No bumper wheat harvest in Punjab

Call it the paradox of timing clear skies when the farmers looked up for rains and it poured when they wanted the sun....

Call it the paradox of timing clear skies when the farmers looked up for rains and it poured when they wanted the sun. First,dry spell during winter,and rains and hailstorm at the time of harvest later washed away all hopes of Punjab farmers to reap a bumper harvest.

Consequently,the state Government has scaled down its procurement target from the earlier 115 lakh metric tonnes (MT) to 100 lakh MT with the loss in yield estimated to be in the range of five to 20 per cent across the state.

But it is the wheat quality that has become a bigger worry for the state already reeling under the problem of plenty with huge stocks of previous years wheat still lying with it. Besides,last years good minimum support price had prompted farmers to bring more area under wheat cultivation this time.

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The weather-beaten wheat arriving at many parts of the state is reported to be poor in parameters of weight,colour and maturity owing to early harvesting of the crop by rain-hit farmers. So even as procurement season in both Punjab and Haryana is drawing to a close and wheat arrivals are comparatively higher by 100 per cent this year,the discoloured and shriveled grains with high moisture content may result in post-harvest losses and pose serious storage challenge,say procurement agencies.

Whats worse,longer storage of this years wheat is a possibility that the two states cannot rule out owing to already overflowing stocks,thanks to slow movement of last years stocks out of the state by the Food Corporation of India (FCI).

Meanwhile,the poor wheat quality,MSP of Rs 1,080 amid falling global wheat prices and higher taxes (total taxes collected on foodgrains in Punjab totals to 12.5 per cent) is also keeping private traders out of the mandis. It is the FCI along with five state government agencies that procured over 95 per cent of the total arrivals of 64.21 lakh MT till April 19 against just 9,000 MT by private traders. The corresponding figure last year was 0.5 lakh MT of the total arrivals of just 27.43 lakh MT. In neighbouring Haryana too,only 1,600 tonnes had been purchased by traders till April 19 out of total arrivals of 46.28 lakh MT.

However,though the wheat quality in the two states has been equally hit by early harvesting due to temperature variations,unlike Punjab,Haryana is hopeful of a bumper harvest this year owing to larger area under wheat. Its agriculture department is pegging the total wheat production at 105 lakh MT,up by two lakh MT from last year. The production this year is expected to be higher than earlier years and perhaps the best so far,the state agriculture secretary Shakuntala Jakhu said.

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Claiming that the damage from inclement weather is localised,its Food and Supply department said the total procurement may even touch 60 lakh MT. The two states are also likely to witness shorter procurement period with Haryana achieving 90 per cent of its procurement target and Punjab 65 per cent by the end of the third week of the procurement season.