Secretary Mandi Board takes stock of procurement in Ludhiana mandis

He appeals to farmers to bring produce with in specifications of moisture content laid by GoI

Secretary Mandi Board takes stock of procurement in Ludhiana mandis

Ludhiana: To ensure smooth paddy procurement operations in State Mandis, Punjab Mandi Board Secretary Ravi Bhagat on Monday, visited various mandis in Ludhiana district to take stock of the arrangements. He also interacted with farmers, commission agents (Arhtiyas) and Officials to enquire about their problems related to purchasing.

After inspecting procurement arrangements in Grain Markets including Khanna, Doraha and Sahnewal, Ravi Bhagat said that in wake of COVID pandemic, it was a challenging task to gear up for procurement of paddy but the procurement has been going smoothly by taking proper precautions with all mandis have handwash stations, space to avoid chaos, proper sanitisation. He said that this time the mandis have also been increased from 1872 to 4260 so that farmers can sell their crop in a hassle-free manner.

He said that so far state Mandis witnessed an arrival of 30 lakh MT paddy of which 90 per cent crop has already been purchased. During today's interaction with the farmers and Arhtiyas, all have expressed satisfaction on the procurement process, revealed the Secretary adding that in order to avoid chaos in Mandis, pass system was introduced during the previous season which is proving successful and so far a total of 10 lakh colour coded passes have been issued.

He appealed to the farmers to bring produce with in specifications of moisture content laid by Government of India. 

Reiterating the commitment of Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh of procuring every single grain of paddy, he said that procurement operations would continue till November 30 so as to enable farmers to bring their produce in Mandis in time.