All necessary arrangements have been made for wheat procurement in Punjab and it will start from April 10, Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Food and Civil Supplies Minister said on Thursday.
The procurement agencies, as well as the FCI, would procure wheat at a minimum support price of Rs 1,975 per quintal, he said.
He also said the state’s Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Department has expressed the possibility of the arrival of 130 lakh metric tonne wheat in the state’s ‘mandis’.
In a statement, the minister further said the state government has increased the number of procurement centres from 1,872 to 4,000.
Ashu further said during the 2020-21 Rabi season, the state government has made arrangements for new jute sacks of 50 Kgs for the procurement of wheat for the central pool.
Due to the Covid-19 situation, the Punjab government had earlier decided to start the procurement season from April 10 instead of April 1, the minister said, adding the procurement would continue till May 31.
A token system has been introduced in the state’s ‘mandis’ to enable farmers to systematically bring their wheat to mandis. Apart from this, the social distancing norms would also be enforced there in ‘mandis’, he added.
