The wheat yield has taken a substantial hit in Punjab this rabi season, posing the first major challenge to the Aam Aadmi Party government less than a month after it assumed power in the state.
According to experts, the sudden rise in temperature in mid-March fastened the maturing of wheat crop, causing loss of yield and grain quality. With farmers staring at losses, the demands for compensation have already started resonating across the state.
As the agriculture department is pegging the per acre loss at one to four quintals, it would eventually lead to a case for paying compensation to farmers and put an additional burden on the state’s finances, which are already in dire straits.
Agriculture secretary Dilraj Singh said that the process to assess the actual loss to crop has started and the amount of compensation could be known after exact damage is known. “After the assessment, we will hold deliberations with our counterparts in the food and civil supplies department to corroborate the facts, which would eventually build up a case for compensating the farmers,” he said.
Agriculture director Gurvinder Singh said: “We are getting reports of about 2,000 crop cutting experiments from across the state and there is a loss of yield by 10-20%. Exact details will be known only after the reports are compiled when harvest ends.”
According to Gurvinder Singh, in the previous rabi season (2020-21), the average wheat yield per acre was recorded at 19.7 quintals, and this time it is expected to be around just 18 quintals.
Shrivelled grain, loss of lustre
Apart from the yield loss, freshly harvested wheat crop reaching the mandis and procurement centres is also reporting higher percentage of shrivelled grain and loss of lustre than the permissible limits of 6% and 10%, respectively.
The stocks end up getting either rejected or are priced lesser than the minimum support price of ₹2,015 per quintal. The districts of Patiala, Fatehgarh Sahib, Mansa, Bathinda, Muktsar, Sangrur, Malerkotla and Barnala are the worst affected.
As per earlier estimates by the department, a total wheat production of 175 lakh tonne was expected, but after the trends of fall in yield, it has been pegged at around 155 lakh tonne. The food department has made arrangements to procure 132 lakh tonne, but due to loss in yield, the total arrivals are also expected to suffer. Total arrivals on Tuesday touched 15 lakh tonne.
Procurement staff on strike
Meanwhile, at least 2,700 inspector-level staff of state’s four procurement agencies – Pungrain, Punsup, warehousing corporation and Markfed – on Tuesday decided to go on a strike from Wednesday until the Centre allows relaxations in procurement norms.
Harmandeep Singh Thind, vice-president of the joint coordination committee of the four agencies, said that the FCI has started rejecting the lots and if wheat is purchased below the norms, the onus falls on the inspector-level staff members who supervise the procurement.
“There have been cases in the past when we are later made to face inquiries and chargesheets when the FCI points out discrepancies in grain quality,” he said, adding that procurement will be resumed only after the Centre allows relaxations in norms.
Even farmer unions are threatening to hold protests. Jagmohan Singh, general secretary of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Dakounda), said: “We want compensation to farmers for the loss in yield besides relaxations in shrivelled grain and lustre loss norms. If our demands are not met, we will hold statewide protests.”
Secretary, food and civil supplies, Gurkirat Kirpal Singh said that the state’s food department was in the grip of the situation and all the issues related to procurement will be resolved at the earliest.
Source - https://www.hindustantimes.com
