'Punjab may not meet wheat procurement target'
Procurement agencies in Punjab may not be able to achieve the set target of 90 lakh tonne of wheat during this Rabi season due to hoarding, experts feel.
By PTI |
LUDHIANA: Procurement agencies in Punjab may not be able to achieve the set target of 90 lakh tonne of wheat during this Rabi season due to hoarding, experts feel.
"Almost 15-20 lakh tonne of wheat is still held back by Punjab farmers in order to fetch higher prices for their produce. As a result of which procurement agencies are finding hard to lift wheat from this state," a Khanna-based wheat trader Raj Sood said.
The Centre had targeted to procure at least 90 lakh tonne of wheat from Punjab to bolster its food grain stock.
According to FCI officials, the procurement agencies have so far lifted 64 lakh tonne of wheat from Punjab against the total procurement of 69.5 lakh tonne during last year.
"Although the procurement agencies will surpass the last year's figure of wheat procurement from Punjab, but it will not even reach close to the targeted figure," said another expert.
In a bid to speed up wheat arrival in grain markets Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Akhilesh Prasad Singh even cautioned farmers, during his Punjab visit this month, saying, farmers would not get Rs 100 per quintal as bonus after May 31.
Experts pointed out that though the "warning" issued by minister led to rise in the total arrival of wheat in grain markets, farmers have still hold back 15-20 lakh tonnes.
Agriculture expert further opined that the prices of wheat would also not go high in Punjab considering the fact that private companies had bought wheat from Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh instead of Punjab.
Download
The Economic Times Business News App for the Latest News in Business, Sensex, Stock Market Updates & More.
The Economic Times Business News App for the Latest News in Business, Sensex, Stock Market Updates & More.
Download
The Economic Times News App for Quarterly Results, Latest News in ITR, Business, Share Market, Live Sensex News & More.
The Economic Times News App for Quarterly Results, Latest News in ITR, Business, Share Market, Live Sensex News & More.
ADVERTISEMENT
