Farmers Movement Archive

Rain leaves farmers worried

Amritsar, May 3Drizzling in the past 24 hours and persistent cloudy conditions have left farmers worried as around 50 per cent wheat produce is yet to arrive in the markets. The district received moderate rain on Sunday. Farmers said they were worried that the weather might spill more trouble for them. According to district Mandi Board officials, only half of the wheat crop has arrived in grain markets.A Mandi Board official said only 3.20 lakh metric tonnes (MT) of wheat have arrived in the markets so far. Last year, 6.82 lakh MT had arrived.The Mandi Board officials added that adverse weather condictions can result in panic-harvesting, which will lead to rush at grain markets and increase in moisture content. According to the norms, wheat with moisture content of less than 12% is procured by government procurement agencies.Meanwhile, farmers also reported a dip in the per acre wheat yield due to heavy rains throughout the season.Chief Agriculture Officer Dr Harinderjit Singh said some farmers have reported a decrease in the yield, but the exact average yield of wheat in the district will be known only after the entire crop is harvested.

The Tribune

2020-05-04