Bathinda: Wheat arrivals and procurement crossed the one-million-tonne mark for the second consecutive day on Sunday, with brisk purchases pushing procurement to over 88% of total arrivals across Punjab. However, lifting of purchased grain from mandis remains sluggish, with just 11.9% of the procured stock lifted till Sunday evening.Procurement rose by more than four percentage points in a day — from over 84% on Saturday evening to over 88% by the evening of April 19. On Sunday alone, purchases accounted for 99.23% of the day’s arrivals, officials said. Despite this, unsold wheat stood at 4,55,808 MT by Sunday evening.Against Sunday’s arrivals of 10,41,681 MT, procurement stood at 10,33,755 MT, taking the cumulative procurement to 34,16,926 MT out of total arrivals of 38,72,735 MT till the evening of April 19.Of the total wheat procured so far, only 4,07,826 MT had been lifted from mandis by Sunday evening, officials said.Meanwhile, incidents of fire in standing wheat crop continued to cause concern. Punjab agriculture minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian visited several villages in Muktsar district affected by recent fire incidents and assured farmers of compensation. The incidents have also renewed demands for the implementation of a crop insurance scheme in the state, even if Punjab chooses not to adopt the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY).
