Relief for Punjab wheat farmers, Centre relaxes quality norms

The Union ministry of food and public distribution on Tuesday allowed purchase of wheat from Punjab by relaxing quality norms for procurement with a value cut for shrivelled and broken grain.

According to a communication received by the Punjab food and civil supplies department, there will be no value cut on grain with lustre loss up to 10%, however, above 10% to 80% a flat value cut of ₹5.31 a quintal will be imposed.

A minimum support price of ₹2,125 per quintal is being offered on the wheat.

The Centre’s decision to relax quality norms came after wheat crop was damaged due to the recent unseasonal rain accompanied by high-velocity winds and hailstorm when the crop was ready for the harvest in the state. Central teams visited grain markets in the state to assess the quality of grain reaching the mandis and submitted a report to the Union ministry on Sunday.

Wheat arrival and procurement in the state has started on a slow note. As on Monday, a total of 82,000 tonnes of wheat arrived in mandis of Punjab against 5.75 lakh tonnes during the corresponding period last year.

State food department officials said the relaxation allowed in terms of lustre loss is a respite for farmers because in case of a normal crop, no loss of lustre is permitted.

“The limit of shrivelled and broken grain is being relaxed up to 18% against the existing limit of 6% under uniform specifications with one-fourth value cut for every additional relaxation of 2%,” reads the communication from the ministry.

For wheat with shrivelled and broken content of 6-8%, a value cut of ₹5.31 will be imposed; for 8-10% a value cut of ₹10.62; 10-12% ₹15.93; 12-14% ₹21.25; 14-16% ₹26.56 and for 16-18% shrivelled and broken grain a value cut of ₹31.87 will be imposed.

The communication adds that both slightly damaged and damaged grain shall not exceed 6% and the wheat procured under the relaxed conditions shall be stored and accounted for separately. These stocks are to be liquidated on priority over normal grain.

It adds that any deterioration of quality of wheat stock procured under relaxed norms during storage shall be the sole responsibility of the state government and any financial or operational implication due to relaxation will also be the state’s responsibility.

The state government is in the process of conducting a survey (girdawari) to assess the loss to the crop for disbursing compensation to farmers.