Hisar, October 17(Press Ki Taquat)
Procurement is going slow in grain markets as harvesting season will pick up in a week’s time due to the late sowing of the basmati variety of paddy in the region this season. Farmers had to re-sow paddy in most flood-affected areas in Sirsa and Fatehabad districts.
In Fatehabad district, DC Ajay Singh Tomar said 2.67 lakh metric tonnes of paddy had been procured in the district until today. “The agencies have also lifted the about 1.80 lakh metric tonnes of paddy after purchase from mandis. There is no congestion in the grain markets as the procurement is going on smoothly,” he said.
The arhtiyas’ association, however, urged the farmers to dry their produce before taking it to the grain market. “The inclement weather has drenched the produce, thus it will take a couple of days for the produce to get dry,” said Jagdish Bhadu, pradhan of the association.
Fatehabad has about 3.5 lakh hectare paddy area. However, the farmers had to re-sow the paddy in about 1 lakh acres area due to floods. “The area of basmati varieties, including ‘1509’ and ‘1847’, has grown this time due to floods as these are comparatively smaller duration crops. Harvest season has started, but it will pick up by next week. Moreover, the strike by exporters and millers, too, has restrained the basmati growers to withhold the stock,” said a trader, adding that procurement of non-basmati varieties was going on smoothly.
In Hisar, about 4.71 lakh quintals of paddy has arrived, of which 3.72 lakh quintals have been purchased. Sources said 2.49 lakh quintals had been lifted while the remaining stock was lying in the grain markets.
In Sirsa district, while the procurement of non-basmati varieties was going on, farmers complained that they were not getting remunerative prices of basmati varieties of paddy. An arhtiya at Rania said the prices of basmati varieties had come down by about Rs 500 to Rs 600 per quintal due to the strike by exporters and millers.
