By IANS,
Chandigarh : Wheat procurement in Punjab and Haryana will start Friday, officials in both states said Thursday.
“The Punjab government has made all required arrangements to ensure smooth, efficient and quick procurement of wheat slated to take off from April 1,” a Punjab government spokesman said here.
“The state government has directed the procurement agencies to undertake procurement as per their allotted share so that every grain of the farmers brought in mandis get lifted,” he added.
He said that procurement of wheat was likely to touch 110 lakh tonnes during this procurement season (April-May).
Last year, Punjab had procured 102.78 lakh tonnes of wheat.
The government has set up 1,738 purchase centres for the procurement
The spokesman added that there is no shortage of procurement articles like crates and gunny bags.
In adjoining Haryana, Agriculture Minister H.S. Chatha said that Rs.7,373 crore has been arranged from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for payment to farmers within 72 hours of purchase.