Ludhiana hits just 14% of target after one month

Officials attribute the sluggish procurement to a sharp decline in paddy arrivals at the grain markets, primarily caused by unseasonal rainfall that hit the district during the critical harvest period

Despite a month into the paddy procurement season, merely 14% of paddy crops have been procured in grain markets across Ludhiana district which stood at 2.39 lakh metric tonnes, against this year’s target of 16.56 lakh metric tonnes, officials familiar with the matter said. The official deadline for paddy procurement in the district is November 30.

Ongoing paddy procurement on Saturday in Ludhiana grain markets. (Manish/HT)

Officials attribute the sluggish procurement to a sharp decline in paddy arrivals at the grain markets, primarily caused by unseasonal rainfall that hit the district during the critical harvest period.

A senior official from the district food and civil supplies department said,” The erratic weather not only damaged standing crops but also delayed harvesting in several parts of the district. The standing crop could not be harvested on time, leading to low arrivals in mandis.”

Quality concerns add to the slump

In addition to the delayed harvest, high moisture content, false smut (fungal disease) and discolouration of grains have further slowed procurement. These quality issues have made it difficult for procurement agencies to lift the produce promptly, the official said.

Meanwhile, Pungrain leads the district’s procurement drive with 1.03 lakh metric tonnes purchased so far. However, this figure stood at only 8.73% of its previous year’s total purchase of 11.81 lakh metric tonnes, highlighting the scale of the slowdown.

Markfed follows with 64,031 metric tonnes, while Punsup and the Punjab State Warehousing Corporation have procured 39,257 and 33,307 metric tonnes, respectively.

Notably, private traders have also recorded an exceptionally weak performance this season, purchasing only 33 metric tonnes so far, which is nearly 90% lower than its last year’s purchase of 418 metric tonnes.

FCI yet to make any purchase

According to the official data, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) is yet to procure any paddy crops in Ludhiana district.

Explaining the absence, district food supplies controller (Ludhiana West), Sartaaj Singh Cheema, said “The procurement of paddy in Ludhiana is primarily handled by state agencies. Since FCI operates through a limited number of grain markets here, its contribution generally remains very low.”

Cheema added that despite the overall low figures, more than 92% of the paddy that has arrived in mandis has already been procured. So far, the district has received 2.61 lakh metric tonnes of paddy, out of which 2.39 lakh metric tonnes have been procured,” he said.