Punjab wheat procurement at 97% as arrivals touch 88% of target

Wheat procurement in Punjab has reached nearly 97% of arrivals, with about 88% of the estimated 12.2 million tonne crop having arrived in mandis so far in the ongoing rabi marketing season.

By the evening of April 28, a total of 1.07 crore metric tonnes (MT) of wheat had arrived in mandis, of which around 1.04 crore MT had been procured. The unsold stock stood at about 2.96 lakh MT.

On Tuesday alone, 3.76 lakh MT wheat arrived in mandis, while 4.14 lakh MT was procured, helping reduce the backlog. With arrivals now nearing the target, the inflow has begun to decline.

However, procurement by private traders has dropped sharply compared to last year. Traders have purchased just about 90,434 MT so far — around 0.87% of total procurement — against 8.18 lakh MT (7.92%) during the same period last year.

Despite steady procurement, lifting of grain remains slow. Only about 41.8% of the procured wheat — roughly 43.63 lakh MT — has been lifted from mandis so far.

This article has been republished from The Times of India.