The Union agriculture ministry said on Thursday that the harvesting of rabi pulses and potato was completed, while that of wheat, sugarcane and onion was on track and will soon be concluded.
The government said that the arrival of staple vegetables in mandis saw a jump compared to last month. There was a six-fold increase in arrival of onion, a statement by the agriculture ministry said.
In the lockdown clamped to control the outbreak of coronavirus disease (Covid-19), the government exempted agriculture activities. “In the major wheat growing states, the status of harvesting is encouraging,” the statement said.
As reported by state governments, about 98-99% of wheat crop has been harvested in Madhya Pradesh, 88-90% in Rajasthan, 75-78% in Uttar Pradesh, 40-45% in Haryana, 35-40% in Punjab and 82-84% in other states, it added.
The statement came on a day the Punjab government decided to slow the pace of procurement to avoid a glut in grain markets and to coordinate the lifting and movement of food grain out of the state by issuing fewer passes to farmers.
“From Sunday, we will issue 60,000 passes a day to farmers for bringing their produce to mandis for procurement,” said additional chief secretary (development) Viswajeet Khanna, who heads the state committee on wheat harvest and procurement. He added that he was satisfied with the pace of procurement, but the movement of grain from the state to other consuming states was also a priority.
{{/usCountry}}“From Sunday, we will issue 60,000 passes a day to farmers for bringing their produce to mandis for procurement,” said additional chief secretary (development) Viswajeet Khanna, who heads the state committee on wheat harvest and procurement. He added that he was satisfied with the pace of procurement, but the movement of grain from the state to other consuming states was also a priority.
{{/usCountry}}State food and civil supplies minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu said a steady pace of crop arrival had been maintained at between 4.5 lakh tonne and 6 lakh tonne a day on average, but this would be slowed to streamline the backlog in lifting and the grain outflow from the state.
The state-owned Food Corporation of India (FCI), meanwhile, transported a record 2.8 lakh tonne of food grains on Wednesday through trains to consuming states for distribution through ration shops.
FCI set a new benchmark on April 22 when it moved 102 train loads carrying about 2.8 lakh tonnes of food grains, the food ministry said in a statement. Maximum movement was from Punjab, which loaded 46 train loads, followed by Telangana with 18.
“Wheat and raw rice was moved from Punjab and Haryana to various parts of the country, boiled rice was moved from Telangana to Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal,” it said.