Faridkot
Both the commission agents and farmers are at a receiving end due to the little procurement of paddy this season.
The major issue, apart from the reluctance of the millers to lift the produce, is the moisture content which is expected to be 17 per cent or below.
But due to short days, longer nights, humidity in air, delayed procurement and glut like situation, it is not coming down to the permissible limits.
Before the Punjab Sub soil act came into effect, paddy was sown even two to three weeks before now. But now it has a fixed date of June 15, and matures late when the weather changes. If there is no glut in the grain markets, the farmers thin the produce in the grain markets to leave it to dry for some time, but this season, mandis are full of produce.
“In Kotkpaura and its sub yards, the moisture content is a major problem. It does not come down up to the acceptable limit of 17 per cent. The farmers have been sitting in the grain markets for many days and they want to get rid of it. The rice millers are not ready to lift the procured if it has high moisture. They have nowhere to go,” said a source.
“There are cuts on paddy(means some deduction in weight for higher moisture) in many places and farmers are getting rid of their produce. This is very unfortunate that there are allegedly cuts or distress sale in some parts of the state, but no solutions left with us. We have to sell the produce of the farmers, they have to pay off the loans and sow wheat besides meeting other expenses. But they are sitting in the grain markets,” said a commission agent wishing not to be quoted.
A commission agent said that the only and ultimate solution would be cuts and we do not want the farmers alone to suffer.”All the three parties, rice millers, farmers and commission agents can bear equal loss for it and produce must be sold off,” he said.
However, chief agriculture officer Faridkot,DR Amrik Singh said that most of the crop is dry and moisture is less than 17 per cent.
“There could be few heaps of paddy which may have more moisture otherwise it is less than 17 per cent. We advise the farmers to harvest crop by days and there is no problem,” he said.
“The government is not purchasing the dry produce and moisture is a false pretext,” said Bohar Singh Rupian Wala, district president of Bharti Kisan Union Sidhupur Ekta.
The farmer alleged that it is a thought out scheme to destroy agriculture in Punjab as the Punjabi farmers had initiated Morcha against three repealed agriculture laws in 2020.
The farmers allege that on the pretext of moisture content, their crop is not being purchased and the stake holders want to loot them by imposing cuts etc.