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Overcast skies may impede procurement process, PAU asks farmers to show resilience
While overcast skies have triggered panic among farmers across the state, director extension education, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), JS Mahal has admitted
While overcast skies have triggered panic among farmers across the state, director extension education, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), JS Mahal has admitted that the prevailing weather conditions may impede the procurement operations across the state.
He has advised farmers to show resilience and remain prepared for hardships.
Mahal said that due to the spread of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) disease, the duration of procurement has been increased from 21 days to 45 days.
He said that instead of rushing the grain to the market amid rain, farmers should let it dry first.
“These are tough times. Covid-19 has hit all sectors of the economy. The farming sector is no different. Due to the paucity of labour, harvesting has also been delayed. There would be instances of rejection of crops by procurement agencies due to over ripening. So I would advise farmers to show restraint and cooperate with them,” said Mahal.
“If procurement agencies refuse to lift grain on account of high moisture content, farmers should wait and let the grain dry. As per the process, a farmer can reapply for a token two days after the expiry of the first token. They could also get in touch with the arhtiyas concerned for issuing them tokens,” said Mahal.
He said that the department of extension education was in talks with the government to mitigate the issues being faced by farmers.
On the other hand, school of climate change and agricultural meteorology of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) has stated that light rainfall and windy conditions will prevail for next 24 hours.
The head of the department Prabhjyot Kaur Sidhu has stated that the overcast skies will continue till Saturday.
“We are expecting light rainfall and windy conditions. It is unlikely that such conditions will hamper the harvesting operations across the state,” stated Sidhu.
