Sirsa: Farmers dissatisfied with slow rate of lifting purchased grain

Farmers are in a difficult situation due to the slow speed at which purchased wheat is lifted in these grain markets and the fury of nature. The crops that were lying in the grain markets were wet by the heavy winds and rain that fell today.

The Sirsa Arhtiya Association threatened the government with a 24-hour ultimatum due to concerns about the sluggish lifting operations. Manohar Mehta, the president of the association, presided over a meeting on Friday to discuss the problem.

At the conference, complaints were made about the way HAFED officials and contractors operated. Farmers voiced their dissatisfaction about the absence of enforcement against contractors and the scarcity of vehicles for activities involving lifting. Farmers and dealers are suffering financially as a result of the delay in lifting the wheat crop, which is stacked up in sacks.

The bad weather makes matters worse and puts the harvested wheat at risk. Furthermore, the harvested wheat was exposed to the rain on Thursday night and Friday morning due to the open-air nature of the grain markets. In order to save their crops from becoming wet, farmers were spotted rushing to cover them with tarpaulins. As a result, in preparation for further rain, wheat harvesting has been temporarily suspended.

Mehta called a meeting of all parties involved to assess the circumstances. The HAFED district manager was also present at the discussion. Mehta emphasized the need to move quickly and called for more cars to be used in order to raise wheat more quickly. He threatened to declare a full market strike if wheat lifting activities were not accelerated within the next day.

Mehta further emphasized the financial challenges farmers are facing as a result of the postponement of wheat lifting. He made the point that even though farmers have already sold their crop, they are not paid until the wheat delivered to market is removed. Farmers’ financial difficulties are becoming worse as a result of this payment delay.

HAFED district manager Mangeraam, for his part, recognized the difficulties but blamed logistical problems for the delays. Despite the fact that the contractors had 90 trucks available, he said that the wheat lifting procedure had not been carried out effectively. He blamed the delay in part on a labor and vehicle shortage brought on by the Bihar elections. He did, however, reassure them that steps were being taken to address these problems and improve the procurement procedure. 2,35,752 MT of wheat have already been delivered to the district’s grain markets.