Nearly 58 lakh tonnes wheat arrives in Haryana grain markets

Chandigarh, April 27 (IANS) Grain markets in Haryana have received nearly 58 lakh tonnes of wheat in the first 26 days of the current procurement season, a minister said here Friday.

State Food and Supplies Minister Mahender Partap Singh, who visited the grain markets at Samalkha, Panipat and Karnal to check arrangements for procurement, interacted with farmers who had brought their produce.

He said that about 57.97 lakh tonnes of wheat had arrived in the mandis till now and government agencies had procured 57.95 lakh tonnes of this.

Terming the wheat arrivals this time as a bumper one, Singh said 49.43 lakh tonnes of wheat had arrived during the corresponding period last year.

"This clearly reflects that this year there has been a bumper production which makes us proud," Singh said.

The minister directed officers of the various procurement agencies to ensure that the farmers were not put to any hardship.

He asked farmers to bring their produce patiently so as to avoid overcrowding in the grain markets.

He said there was some problem in stocking of wheat as the stocks of some previous years were also lying in the warehouses.