Centre to send team to Punjab to assess damage to wheat crop

NEW DELHI: With wheat crop starting to arrive in the mandis of Punjab, a team from the Centre is expected to visit the state to evaluate the grain and work out relaxation of norms for grain procurement.

Punjab’s food minister Adaish Pratap Singh Kairon on April 17 said that wheat grains have started arriving in the mandis with higher moisture content because of the unseasonal rains in the region. He said that a technical team will visit the state and collect the grain samples for getting them scientifically tested in laboratories for assessing the damage due to unseasonal rains and hailstorms.

Kairon also assured the farmers that their interests will not be compromised at any cost. Punjab is expected to procure 12.5 million tonnes of wheat during this season. The state has received the first instalment of sanctioned cash credit limit of Rs 14,640 crore for ensuing procurement of foodgrain in Punjab for this calendar year’s rabi marketing season.