Wheat harvesting begins, only 88 MT arrival so far in district

Amritsar, April 15

Even though the procurement of wheat by the government agencies had started on April 1, the grain markets in the district witnessed the first arrival of the produce here on Monday. Officials of the district Mandi Board reported wheat arrival of 88 metric tonne.

The officials said out of the arrival today, 35 MT was reported at grain markets in Mehta block and 48 in Rayya block. With an expected total arrival of over nine lakh metric tonne, though the arrival of Monday is negligible it has marked the start of the wheat harvesting season.

Officials of the district Agriculture Department stated that harvesting in the district always started after the festival of Baisakhi. They stated that this year inclement weather conditions may further delay the harvesting of the crop as it is not possible to use combine harvest on rainy days.

With the district witnessing mild showers on Monday, the harvesting is expected to pick up pace when the sky is clear. The district had also reported mild showers last day. Agriculture officials stated that once the weather becomes clear, the harvesting would pick up pace within the next few days.

The district mandi officials stated that all preparations have been made at 11 sub yards and 28 dana mandis in the district. The officials appealed to the farmers to bring only fully ripened crop which has moisture in the permissible limits so that it could be procured instantly by the procurement agencies. The permissible limit of moisture in the grains have been fixed at 12 per cent failing which the farmers would have to wait till the grain dry.