Kapurthala paddy procurement crosses 1.5 lakh MT; Rs 338 crore paid to farmers
The paddy procurement process in Kapurthala district is progressing smoothly, with total purchases exceeding 1.5 lakh metric tonnes. Deputy Commissioner Amit Kumar Panchal reported that as of yesterday, procurement agencies have collectively bought 151,721.91 metric tonnes of paddy from local grain markets.
Payments totalling Rs 338.61 crore have been credited to farmers’ bank accounts within the stipulated timeframe. Among the agencies, Markfed leads with 52,556.98 metric tonnes procured, followed by PUNGRAIN at 51,505.91 metric tonnes, PUNSUP at 34,079.12 metric tonnes, and the Punjab State Warehousing Corporation with 13,277.90 metric tonnes.
Out of the total procured paddy, 112,217.92 metric tonnes have already been lifted from the markets, achieving 106 per cent of the scheduled lifting target.
Reaffirming the administration’s commitment to procuring every grain of farmers’ produce, the Deputy Commissioner said adequate arrangements have been made at all procurement centres to ensure hassle-free operations. Officials have been directed to regularly visit mandis to monitor and streamline the process.
Farmers urged to bring dried paddy to mandis
The executive body of the Phagwara Arhtiya Association held a meeting under the chairmanship of Association and Mandi President Naresh Bhardwaj to review ongoing paddy procurement arrangements. Members expressed satisfaction with the efforts of the Market Committee and procurement agencies in ensuring smooth functioning of the grain market.
Extending greetings on the occasion of Diwali and Vishwakarma Jayanti, Bhardwaj informed that adequate supplies of gunny bags have been arranged by the concerned department and that the procurement process is running efficiently. While acknowledging that the recent rainfall had caused some inconvenience, he confirmed that both arrival and purchase of paddy are now proceeding at full pace.
Bhardwaj appealed to farmers not to rush their produce to the market and urged them to ensure their paddy is properly dried and free of excess moisture before sale, in line with government quality standards. He emphasised that this would help farmers receive the full value of their crop and avoid complications during the sale process.
He also advised farmers to harvest their crop between 10 am and 5 pm to prevent moisture accumulation from morning dew, warning that paddy with high moisture content results in additional labour costs for drying.
The meeting was attended by senior members of the association, including Husan Singh Ghumman, Pandit Ram Singh Joshi, Rakesh Prabhakar, Anil Gupta, Vikas Gupta Raju, Vineet Sood, Ashwani Kumar, Sunny, Pravesh Gupta, Rajiv Aggarwal, Deepak Aggarwal and Pramod Duggal.
Jalandhar