Punjab Wheat Procurement Accelerates to 84% as Arrivals Cross One Million Tonnes
Government procurement of wheat in Punjab gained significant momentum on Saturday, with over 84% of total arrivals in mandis purchased by evening. This marks a substantial improvement from previous days, though concerns persist regarding the slow lifting of procured grain from market yards.
Procurement Efficiency Shows Steady Improvement
Procurement efficiency has demonstrated consistent growth throughout the week, rising from just 38% on April 15 to 56% on Thursday, nearly 75% on Friday, and finally reaching close to 84% by Saturday evening. On April 18 alone, wheat arrivals crossed the significant milestone of one million metric tonnes, with procurement for the day also exceeding one million tonnes.
Against Saturday's arrivals of 10,72,791 metric tonnes, procurement in a single day was recorded at an impressive 10,66,725 metric tonnes. This represents procurement of almost the entire day's arrival at 99.43%, leaving only 4,47,882 metric tonnes of wheat unsold by Saturday evening.
Cumulative Procurement Figures Show Strong Performance
Cumulatively, procurement has reached 23,83,171 metric tonnes against total arrivals of 28,31,053 metric tonnes through the evening of April 18. The sharp increase from Friday's procurement rate of nearly 75% to Saturday's over 84% demonstrates the government's enhanced purchasing capacity as the harvest season progresses.
Lifting Challenges Remain a Major Concern
Despite the procurement success, significant logistical challenges persist in the lifting of procured grain from mandis. Only 4.5% of total procured wheat had been lifted from mandis across the state by Friday evening, with officials not releasing updated lifting figures for Saturday.
Of the total wheat procured through Friday evening, merely 59,555 metric tonnes had been transported from market yards. This slow lifting pace continues to worry farmers and commission agents, particularly as wheat arrivals peak during the current harvest season.
Department Transparency Issues Add to Concerns
The state's food, civil supplies and consumer affairs department has not shared updated data on grain lifting beyond Friday's figures, creating uncertainty about the current transportation status. This lack of transparency compounds existing concerns about storage capacity and logistical bottlenecks that could affect the entire procurement process.
As the wheat procurement season continues at full pace, stakeholders are closely monitoring both purchasing efficiency and lifting operations, with the latter requiring immediate attention to prevent storage congestion and ensure timely payments to farmers.
