Punjab Farmers Delay Paddy Harvest Due to Procurement Issues

Hoshiarpur/Kapurthala (Pb), Oct 23 (PTI) Ravinder Singh, a farmer in Hoshiarpur, has delayed harvesting of his paddy crop sown over two acres of land, fearing that the produce will not be lifted in the wake of "tardy" purchase in mandis in Punjab.

Like Singh, there are many farmers in the state, who are not harvesting paddy as grain markets are bursting at the seams with the Kharif crop piling up because of slow lifting and delayed procurement.

Though the Punjab government claims that every grain will be purchased from farmers, several paddy growers said they were in need of money to repay loans, for events like wedding ceremonies and the "tardy" paddy procurement would put them under significant financial strain.

Paddy lifting from mandis in Punjab is hit after the state rice millers refused to mill the paddy till their demands are met.

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday spoke with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, urging him to address the issues of the state rice millers.

While the ruling AAP blamed the BJP-led Centre for not evacuating foodgrain stock in the state to create sufficient space for storing fresh crop, the opposition parties Congress and Akali Dal lashed out at the Bhagwant Mann government for the slow paddy procurement and lifting.

Expressing frustration over the slow pace of paddy purchase, Ravinder Singh said he has not harvested his crop sown over two acres of land.

The Kangmai grain market, where he plans to sell his produce, is already full due to the backlog of unsold paddy, said Singh, who hails from Bhatolian village.

He said he expects to spend long hours in the market once he harvests his crop.

Another farmer Jagtar Singh, from Sataur village, said he took his produce to the Bagpur grain market about six days ago but it remains stacked because of lack of procurement. Around 125 farmers from Sataur village took their produce to various mandis including Bagpur, Dosarka, Cholang, but it has not been procured yet, farmers said.

Jagtar Singh blamed both the central and Punjab governments for the farmers' plight.

He said the Bhagwant Mann government should have made prior arrangements to store fresh paddy crop at the shellers months ago to avoid this crisis.

Amid glut, some farmers claimed not getting the full price for their produce they sold some days ago. Parminder Singh from Thinda village said he sold his crop five days ago but he was told that a cut would be imposed on his crop.

In Kapurthala, several farmers claimed that they were forced to sell their crop for Rs 200 to 300 per quintal less than the minimum support price.

Farmer Shiv Dev Singh of village Talwandi Mehma said he had to sell paddy grown over ten acres at less rate than the MSP.

He said he has now decided not to harvest his crop sown over another piece of land and would wait for the start of the smooth procurement of the crop.

In Phagwara, Bharti Kisan Union (Doaba) senior vice president Kirpal Singh Moosapur alleged that procurement was so tardy that farmers were being forced for its distress sale by selling paddy with cuts of Rs 150 to 200 per quintal.

The indefinite road blockade protest by the BKU (Doaba) continues at national highway 44 near a sugarmill in Phagwara. Farmers alleged that the Centre was "hell-bent" on ruining farmers of Punjab by "tardy" procurement of paddy.

Punjab rice millers have expressed concern over the out-turn ratio (post milling yield) of the PR-126 paddy variety, claiming that it will lead to huge losses to them.

They have said that the out-turn ratio of this variety is less than 67 per cent, a ratio which has been fixed by the Centre.

They are demanding that they be allowed to give 64 kg of rice out of one quintal of paddy because of less yield in PR-126 variety.

The state rice millers have also complained of space crunch for storing the fresh paddy crop and want the Centre to liquidate the existing wheat and paddy stock to create sufficient space.

A target of procurement of 185 lakh metric tonne of paddy from Punjab has been fixed for the 2024-25 Kharif Marketing season.