Buying halted for a day to expedite lifting of procured paddy

In a move to expedite the clearance of parmal paddy stock from grain markets, the authorities of the Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board (HSAMB) halted procurement operations for a day in all grain markets and procurement centres of the district on Sunday. The paddy has been accumulating in different grain markets due to slow lifting, which has created space crunch in the grain markets.

Farmers and arhtiyas have already raised the issue in the past couple of days to speed up the lifting process and with mounting concerns from the over the backlog in paddy movement, the authorities have taken this step, considering it to be an opportunity to clear grain markets and making space for further arrival.

As per the data, all 15 procurement centres and grain markets of the distict have received 7,98,997 MT of paddy, of which Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department has procured 5,32,765MT, Hafed has purchased 1,58,480 MT and 1,07,752 MT by the Haryana State Warehousing Corporation (HSWC).

Out of the total procured paddy, 6,39,348 MT of paddy have already been lifted. Of which, the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department has lifted 4,28,674 MT of paddy, while 1,27,249 by Hafed and 83,425 by the HSWC, said the data.

The authorities claim that the temporary halt is intended to prevent further congestion and streamline the flow of grain from procurement sites to storage and milling facilities.

“We have halted procurement of parmal varieties. The procurement of basmati paddy was going on as usual. The purpose is to halt the procurement to speed up the lifting process,” said Sourabh Choudhary, District Marketing Enforcement Officer (DMEO), Karnal.

Yash Jaluka, Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC), said to ensure smooth procurement and lifting, they had been keeping vigil in the grain markets. “One day halt of procurement of parmal variety has been done to expedite lifting,” the ADC said.