Punjab Newspaper

Six government agencies and private millers in Punjab have procured more than 98.63 lac tonnes of wheat against 71.82 Lac tonnes procured till date last year recording a growth of over 30% than last year.
According to an official spokesman, out of 9863780 tonnes procured till date which 9334391 tonnes (94.6%) has been procured for the central pool and 2,61,529 tonnes (2.7%) for the State pool whereas traders lifted 267860 tonnes of Wheat.
The spokesman said that till May 7, PUNGRAIN had procured 17, 47,797 tonnes (18.7%) whereas MARKFED procured 21, 20,007 tonnes (23.8%). PUNSUP procured 21, 47, 810 tonnes (23%), PSWC procured 11, 54,811 tonnes (12.4%) whereas PAIC was able to procure10, 57,019 tonnes (11.3 %) of wheat for the central pool.
The Central Government agency FCI had been able to procure 10, 06,947 tonnes (10.8%) for the central pool. He added that Ferozepur District with 11,27,320 tonnes of procurement was leading in procurement operations whereas Sangrur District with 9,36,565 tonnes of procurement was at second slot and Ludhiana district with 8,30,096 tonnes of procurement ranked at third position.
The Punjab Government allocated more than Rs. 9385.77 crores to the agencies for making payment to the farmers for wheat procured upto May 6, 2008 ensuring payment to the farmers within 48 hours of lifting of their wheat. The State Government has set up over 1615 procurement centres and activated its total machinery to ensure smooth procurement of wheat, the spokesman added.