The Reserve Bank of India has authorised a credit limit of over Rs10,053 crore to Haryana for the procurement of wheat this season. A spokesperson of the State Government on Monday said that Haryana Government has made elaborate arrangements for the smooth procurement of wheat. The entire stock would be purchased by agencies of the State Government on behalf of the Central Government. The wheat procurement will begin from April 1 but bulk stocks are expected to arrive after Baisakhi, the harvest festival on April 13. The spokesman said that about 65 lakh metric tonnes (lMT) of wheat is likely to be procured during this season. Keeping in view, the untimely heavy rain and hailstorms which caused heavy loss to the standing wheat crop in the State, the procurement targets have been reduced from 75 lMT to 65 lMT during the ensuing Rabi Marketing Season 2015-16.

He said that the procurement agencies have been allotted the procurement share. The Food and Supplies Department would procure 33 per cent wheat whereas 40 per cent wheat would be procured by HAFED, 15 per cent by Haryana Warehousing Corporation, ten percent by Haryana Agro Industries Corporation and two percent by CONFED. The State has adequate covered and scientific open storage capacity of about 107.25 lMT to store the procured foodgrains and no stock would be stored on vulnerable places. As many as 376 mandis (grain markets) and purchase centres has been made operational for the procurement of wheat this season and no farmer has to travel beyond eight kilometers to sell his produce, added the spokesperson.