Wheat purchase in Punjab expected to be higher despite inclement weather

Chandigarh: Wheat procurement in Punjab in the current rabi marketing season is expected to be better at 120 lakh metric tonne than last year'sat 120 lakh metric tonne, despite vagaries of weather that caused damage to the crop.

Given the ongoing crop arrivals in grain markets of the state, Punjab is expected to purchase 120 lakh metric tonne of wheat for the central pool, said an official of the Punjab Food and Civil Supplies department. This purchase will be higher than last year's procurement of 96.47 lakh MT. The crop was adversely affected last season because of sudden rise in mercury during March which is the grain filling stage.

Untimely rains accompanied by hail storms and high-velocity winds caused extensive damage to wheat and other crops at many places in Punjab, including in Fazilka, Muktsar, Moga and Patiala districts in March and April this year.

The rough weather had an impact on around 14 lakh hectare out of total sown area of 34.90 lakh hectare and it was anticipated that there would be an adverse impact on overall yield of the crop. However, during the crop-cutting experiments, the state agriculture department witnessed an average yield of 47.24 quintals per hectare or 19 quintals per acre.