Punjab is apprehending the problem of plenty due to insufficiency. Expected abundance of crop this year has led to plethora of tensions for the Punjab Government, as storage space is in short supply across the State. Plus, the availability of ample gunny bags is also lacking.
Punjab is eyeing around 140 lakh tonnes of wheat — a bumper crop. On the other hand, the State agriculture department is expecting 161.59 lakh MT of wheat production.
But even with this anticipated record production, there is hardly any reason to smile for the state authorities. The State Government and the Food Corporation of India (FCI) are worried as there is no space to store this bumper crop.
The state has just 60 lakh tonnes of storage space available with it, presently. Besides, the State has on hand less than half of the gunny bags against the required number of 50 crore to store safely the food grains.
Known as the highest contributor in the central kitty, Punjab is now facing tough contest from other states like Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, among others also — posing more challenge for the State in terms of movement of the previous stock. The State already has approximately 172 lakh tonnes of old stock stored in the warehouses.
“We are facing these combined problems as the wheat that was procured earlier has not yet been moved out of Punjab.
The movement is slow as Railways have not been able to provide adequate rakes to speed up the transportation of food grains from Punjab despite being reminded numerous times. As a result, we still have half the stored wheat of the previous season lying with us,” a senior official of the state Food and Civil Supply Department, told The Pioneer, requesting anonymity.
With the procurement process to begin in the state from April 1, at nothing less than 1,770 procurement centres, the authorities concerned are worried in the wake of shortage of space. Initially predicting 135 lakh tonnes of wheat crop, the experts owing to the “long cold spell” are now eyeing 140 lakh tonnes.
As of now, Punjab has the total storage space of 232 lakh tones —110 lakh tonnes of open storage and 122 lakh tonnes of covered storage.
The official maintained that for storing 140 lakh tonnes of wheat, around 50 crore gunny bags of 50 kilograms capacity are required.
“We have paid the money in advance for the gunny bags, but the requirement has not been met up till now. The delay in providing gunny bags may further lead to inordinate delay in clearing grain from the market,” said the official.
GOVT’S ARRANGEMENTS
Punjab Government claimed that it has made arrangements for gunny bags for the procurement operations, and for 65 lakh MT extra storage besides available storage capacity of the state. The State Government has notified 1770 mandis or purchase centers for the procurement of 140 lakh metric tonnes of wheat against 129.35 lakh MT procured in the previous season. The procurement agencies would purchase wheat at the MSP of Rs 1,350 per quintal during the current Rabi season, and the payment would be made within 48 hours and lifting within 72 hours. The state agencies including PUNGRAIN, MARKFED, PUNSUP, and national agency FCI each has been allotted 20 percent share of wheat procurement, while Punjab State Warehousing Corporation got 11 ercent, Punjab Agro Industries nine percent.