Farmers Movement Archive

Farmers in for the long haul

FARMERS are facing problems regarding the availability of harvesters and other farm equipment for their wheat crop which is set to enter the mandis from April 15, even as the Punjab Government has issued an order that shops of agricultural machinery and spare parts will remain open during the curfew.However, the nod seems to have come a bit late. A sizeable number of farmers have not been able to get their farm equipment serviced or their machinery repaired because there was no permission for such shops to open earlier. Repair shops will now have to race against time to get the farm machinery ready for harvesting.Official figures say that farmers in the state are expected to use about 17,720 harvesters on around 35 lakh hectares on which wheat was sown this year. The staggered procurement, in accordance with social distancing norms, will continue till June 15.In the ‘standard operation procedure’, Secretary, Punjab State Agricultural Board, Ravi Bhagat has stated that the authorities will issue passes for specific dates and for specific mandis. The mandi coupons will be issued to arhtiyas who will deliver these to the farmers. One tractor-trailer will not be issued more than one coupon per day allowing the transportation of 50 quintals of wheat. The unused coupons cannot be used on any other day.The government has chalked out a plan to reduce the daily farmer strength in mandis by more than half. The farmer presence in the mandis will not be more than 50,000 daily, said Secretary, Agriculture, Kahan Singh Pannu. He said there would be about 4,000 mandis this year, more than double the usual number. In order to avoid crowding, each mandi will, on an average, handle procurement for 12-14 farmers daily.Official figures put the expected wheat produce this year at about 182 lakh metric tonnes, of which 128 lakh metric tonnes are expected to arrive in the mandis. The procurement last year was 132 lakh metric tonnes.Farm expert Prof SS Johl says staggering wheat procurement is not a sensible decision: “We know that 65 per cent of the farmers have less than four-acre landholding. The majority in this category are those who have to repay their loans. They also don’t have adequate space to store the foodgrain. Weather is very unpredictable, so keeping the crop in the open is not safe. The government should open more mandis so as to adhere to social distancing and finish the job as soon as possible.”Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan) leader Ram Singh Bhainibaga says: “It is a fact that all crop will be harvested before April-end. In the absence of proper storage, a farmer will always be at risk of crop loss. So, the government should either set up more procurement centres or it should get the farmers’ produce evaluated when it is ready and make the payments. The procurement can be done later.”A senior officer of the Agriculture Department said: “Everyone needs to realise that we are not working under normal conditions. In view of the special preparations made for combating Covid-19, farmers need to be prepared for slight discomfort. We are doing our best for them and will take care of each one of them.”Prof Baldev Singh Dhillon, Vice Chancellor, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, says: “The wheat crop can stand for a little longer, so staggered procurement should not be a problem. I think harvesters will come, but the labour shortage was an issue that should have been addressed for all places before the harvesting began.”Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has set up a 30-member control room at the Mandi Board for coordination and providing logistic support to farmers. The CM has directed the Food Department to ensure that payments for the procurement are released to the arhtiyas in a way that they can make payments to the farmers within two days of receipt of their produce. The state has a available labour work force of around 14.2 lakh.

The Tribune

2020-04-13