Chandigarh, Oct 12 (PTI) The Shiromani Akali Dal (Punar Surjit) leader on Monday demanded that the Punjab government immediately compensate farmers whose crops were damaged by rains.
SAD (Punar Surjit) general secretary Harinderpal Singh Chandumajra also lashed out at the Bhagwant Mann government over paddy stocks lying at several grain markets and getting soaked in rains, alleging that rainwater has exposed the state government’s paddy procurement arrangements.
Rain lashed several places in Punjab and parts of Haryana on October 11, with farmers fearing damage to crops.
Speaking to reporters here, Chandumajra said rains adversely affected the quality of paddy grains and are at risk of discolouration.
“This discoloured grain is likely to become a source of conflict between farmers and rice mill owners during the procurement process.
“Similarly, the issue of moisture content, which remains unaddressed, will become even more complicated as moisture levels in the paddy crop rise following the rain,” he pointed out.
Chandumajra said the government should revise the permissible limits for quality and moisture content.
Farmers, commission agents and rice mill owners are vital links in Punjab’s marketing infrastructure, and if even one of these links weakens, the entire system will collapse, he said.
“Farmers are facing a double blow from both nature and the government. To support the struggling rice sheller industry, the Punjab government should provide a milling bonus of Rs 30 a quintal, similar to the practice adopted by the Haryana government – a measure the Punjab government has failed to implement,” he said.
He further claimed that with Punjab facing a critical storage crisis, the state government has made no effective effort to coordinate with the Centre to resolve this issue.
“There is no space to store the paddy crop. When there is no space, where will the fresh crop be stored?” he asked
Chandumajra said another devastating blow has been dealt to rice sheller owners, specifically, hybrid seed varieties containing 45 per cent broken grains. He claimed that while the government previously allowed a 25 per cent tolerance limit for broken grains, it was now reduced to 10 per cent.
He further said a deduction of Rs 200 per quintal is being imposed on hybrid seed varieties, causing losses to paddy growers.
Chandumajra noted that the paddy procurement target was 190 lakh metric tonnes (MT) last year but it has been reduced to 180 lakh MT this year, even though crop arrivals in the grain markets are expected to exceed 200 lakh MT.
He accused the Punjab government of neither taking note of this reduction in the target nor raising the issue with the Central government.
“A careful analysis of the entire sequence of events makes it evident that the Punjab government is not engaging in sincere dialogue with the Centre to strengthen the marketing infrastructure,” he alleged. PTI CHS KSI
KSI
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.