With rise in temp, southwest Punjab dists see sharp surge in wheat arrivals
As wheat harvesting is in full swing in southwest Punjab, Mansa is leading among the seven districts of the region with more than 1.57 lakh tonnes of grain arriving in mandis till Saturday, according to officials
BATHINDA : As wheat harvesting is in full swing in southwest Punjab, Mansa is leading among the seven districts of the region with more than 1.57 lakh tonnes of grain arriving in mandis till Saturday, according to officials.
Punjabi Mandi Board data reveals that wheat arrivals in the region have seen a sharp surge since Monday. Agriculture experts attribute it to rise in temperature, which has touched 40 degrees Celsius, after unseasonal rains in March-end and early April delayed harvesting.
Field officials of the state agriculture department say the initial yield results are encouraging and the impact of unfriendly climatic conditions during the last phase of crop ripening is hardly visible.
Till April 10, total wheat arrival in six districts of the south Malwa belt was less than 2,000 quintals. Mansa witnessed the highest arrival of 8,262 quintals till Monday whereas all 10 mandis of Bathinda received 1,919 tonnes till April 10, according to the data.
On April 15, about 40,000 tonnes of wheat arrived the mandis of Bathinda making it total over 1.08 lakh tonnes.
On April 10, total arrival in Ferozepur was mere 890 tonnes and after five days, it crossed the 1-lakh tonne mark. On Saturday, more than 53,000 tonnes of grains reached the mandis of the district sharing boundary with Pakistan.
Similarly, total wheat stock in Faridkot reached over 87,000 tonnes on Saturday from 345 tonnes on April 10. On Saturday, more than 25,000 tonnes of wheat arrived at the markets, said officials.
In the last five days, wheat arrivals have seen a surge in Fazilka, recording 60,000 tonnes from a meagre 902 tonnes on April 10.
Ferozepur chief agriculture officer Tejpal Singh said barring the hailstorm-hit pockets, the district is likely to witness an estimated yield of 20 quintals per acre.
Muktsar chief agriculture officer Gurpreet Singh said the harvesting is in full swing and the delayed wheat season is expected to be over by April 24.
“Due to untimely rains, harvesting started late and crop ripening is taking time. Crop-cutting experiments are underway to prepare the yield data,” he added.
