Central teams land in Punjab, collect 55 samples to assess grain damage

Eight teams of scientists from the Union ministry of food and public distribution on Friday visited mandis across Punjab to assess the quality of wheat grain arriving for purchase by the state government agencies.

According to the officers of the state food and civil supplies department, the teams took 55 samples from different mandis in districts of Mohali, Patiala, Sangrur, Ludhiana and Ferozepur, which would be sent to the ministry’s laboratories for quality assessment.

“The ministry has sent the teams after the state government raised a red flag for allowing relaxation in grain quality at the time of procurement,” an official, who didn’t want to be named, said.

“Based on the report, relaxation would be allowed which will save farmers from the value cut,” the official added. This season the Centre has offered a minimum support price of ₹2,125 per quintal on wheat and in case, the grain quality falls below the permissible limits, a value cut will be imposed.

Due to two spells of unseasonal rains, high-velocity winds and hailstorms that started on March 25, the quality of grains has been impacted and some state governments, including Punjab and Haryana, have sought relaxation in procurement norms.

Confirming that the quality of the grain coming to mandis has been impacted by the inclement weather, the official said that its field officials are reporting higher moisture content, shrivelled grain, more than the permissible limits, and higher quantity of broken grain.

“It is a repeat of the last rabi harvest when the wheat crop suffered due to rainfall in January and February and there was a sudden rise in the temperature in March. The total yield loss was estimated to be 15% last year,” the official added.

In the current season, against the initial estimates of total wheat output of 170 lakh tonnes in Punjab, the officials are expecting the yield to fall below 150 lakh tonnes after the inclement weather. This season wheat was sown over 34.9 lakh hectares, 25,000 hectares less than the previous season in Punjab.

2,514 tonnes of wheat arrive on Friday

The wheat harvest and arrivals are picking up gradually. As of Friday, 2,514 tonnes of wheat arrived in the state mandis - in districts of Mohali, Patiala, Mansa, Sangrur, Barnala, Ludhiana and Ferozepur. The state’s agricultural marketing (mandi) board has set up 1,872 mandis and procurement centres in the state for the purchase of wheat by four procurement agencies and the Centre’s Food Corporation of India (FCI). On Thursday, 770 tonnes of wheat reached the mandis.

BOX: Expecting record output: Govt

New Delhi: The government on Friday said wheat production loss due to recent inclement weather is likely to be in the range of 1-2 million tonnes but overall production will reach a record 112.2 million tonnes in the current year on higher acreage and yield. The Centre also asked roller flour millers to directly procure from farmers to meet their requirements instead of seeking stock from state-owned FCI under Open Market Sale Scheme. The government also ruled out the industry’s demand to lift the ban on the export of wheat products considering the bumper output.

Releasing a private wheat crop estimate at an event organised by the Roller Flour Millers’ Federation of India, Subodh Kumar Singh, additional secretary in the Union food ministry, said reasons for projecting higher output this year are, firstly, there are 3-5% increase in wheat acreage, the second is production loss due to untimely rains, and hailstorms would be about 1-2 million tonnes, and third, there would be an additional 5-5.5 million tonne production over the last year.

Stating that there is quality loss due to recent rains, the additional secretary said the government has taken a timely decision to relax norms for procurement for Madhya Pradesh, where grain with lustre loss is being purchased at MSP. The government is considering requests from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh governments, he said. PTI