Wheat purchase in Haryana surpasses last year’s figures

Wheat procurement at Haryana mandis has already surpassed last year’s figures by 3.22 lakh metric tonnes (MT) till May 2, a statewide report made available on the e-kharid portal of food, civil supplies and consumer affairs department, show.

As per the figures, the agencies have purchased 68.44 lakh MT of wheat from the mandis across the state till May 2, as against 65.22 lakh MT during the corresponding period last year.

In both the rabi seasons, the government officially started the procurement process on April 1.

According to the district-wise chart of this year, Karnal tops the state with 7.81 lakh MT purchase till date, followed by Kaithal (6.93 lakh MT), Jind (6.77 lakh MT) and Fatehabad (5.89 lakh MT).

The report also shows that the agencies have lifted 79.75% (55.72 lakh MT) of the procured crops at the purchase centres in the state, while the wheat arrival stands at 69.95 lakh MT.

Haryana has set a target to procure 75 lakh MT wheat of the total production of about 116.24 lakh MT. Wheat has been sown in an area of 24.63 lakh hectares in the state.

As the purchase enters its last leg, the harvesting of wheat is also at its final stages.

Jaswinder Saini, deputy director, agriculture (DDA), Ambala, said that nearly 95% of the harvesting has been completed under his region.

Similarly, the Haryana agriculture and farmers’ welfare department also conducted a large-scale crop-cutting experiment (CCE) in every district that concluded in the last week of April, to assess the average productivity of wheat.

Wazir Singh, DDA, Karnal said, “Though the final report will be released later this month, preliminary findings suggest that the average wheat yield stands at about 24 quintals per acre, which is nearly a quintal higher than last year’s average. The department conducted CCE survey at nearly 1,700 wheat fields across various villages in the district.”

Moreover, experts at the ICAR-Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research (IIWBR), Karnal, are confident that the overall wheat production in the country will rise as the weather has been favourable throughout the period and high-yielding variety of seeds have also contributed to better grain quality over the years.

As reported last month, Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan during his visit to the IIWBR, also showed hope that despite climatic change and increasing temperatures, the country will witness record wheat production during the season.