As farmer Bhupinder Singh drives from his Malikpur village in Phagwara with two trolleys of early-maturing short duration paddy variety PR-126 to the district’s grain market, he faces an unusual dilemma.
Even though he wishes to opt for the government’s Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rs 2,203 per quintal, he is left with hardly any option but to go with the private players on the face on losses. The government’s MSP is inaccessible as the procurement process is yet to start. So he has to sell his crop for just Rs 1,700 to Rs 1,800 per quintal to private players.
Just when he had made up his mind to sell his crop to private players, Bhupinder, who cultivated his crop on five acres of the total 40 acres that he owns, was told to return by commission agents. They told him that there was hardly any storage space available at the mandi for his crop and they also suggest against selling his produce at such a poor price.
“I traveled over 13 km to bring my crop here, and now I must return with it, only to come back again on October 1. Not only will I have to incur additional labour costs, but by then my remaining field will also be ready for harvesting,” he said, adding that since the government promoted the short paddy variety of PR 126, which matures in 105 days after transplanting 25-30-day-old seedlings, it makes more sense to advance the procurement date rather than sticking to the traditional October 1. He added that he transplanted paddy in the third week of June, and it’s fully matured now. “I can’t keep it in the field any longer because even a small amount of rain and strong wind can damage the entire crop. Private buyers are offering only Rs 1700 per quintal and it is a loss of Rs 500 per quintal,” he said.
He urged the government to advance the procurement date for short-duration paddy varieties such as PR-126, which mature much earlier than the traditional October 1. Similar is the situation of Ajit Singh from Khanna, who faced a similar problem at the mandi after after bringing crops from his seven fields. With no government procurement at sight, he requested arhtiya (commission agent) to store the produce until the procurement process starts.
Citing uncertain weather conditions, he said that his crops are fully matured and will go waste if it again starts raining. He also urged the government to start the procurement process at the earliest.
Thousands of other farmers like them from across Tarn Taran, Amritsar, Ropar, Rajpura, Banur, Khanna, Lalru, are facing similar challenges after reaching mandis to sell their crop. Short-duration paddy matures within 93 to 111 days after transplanting, offering a month’s window to prepare the field to sow wheat. This year, due to floods, the percentage of short-duration paddy varieties such as PR-126 is expected to increase significantly, given the limited alternatives available to farmers.
In contrast, long-duration and semi-long duration paddy varieties are harvested from October first week to even November first week. Given that wheat sowing begins on November 1 in Punjab and around 80-85 per cent area is covered in next 15 days, the early harvest is crucial. Growing a short duration variety not only gives the farmers 25-30 days time to manage the stubble but also saves irrigation water and input cost.
Kulwant Rai Babby, president of Phagwara mandi highlighting the plight of farmers, said that the government should start the procurement before October 1. He added that both farmers and arhtiyas will be benefit only then.
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Ravinder Singh Cheema, president of Arhtiya Association of Punjab, also underlined the need to advance the procurement date considering the challenges of storing mature paddy. “Despite submitting their representation on September 8 to the Punjab Marketing Board officials to start procurement from September 20, no progress. Over a dozen mandis in the state have witnessed over 4 lakh bags of paddy till date and by the time procurement starts, the number would be double. Short-duration paddy varieties are ready for harvesting by September third week and since the government is promoting this variety, they should also make the necessary changes in the procurement time,” he said.
He added that the issues of weight of paddy is also a concern. “If we start storing paddy, it will go dry by the time the procurement starts. The weight of freshly harvested paddy is more than the dry crop.
So when farmers come to us with their fresh crop the weight is more. But when they come again to sell those crops that they stored with us, the weight of the dry crop varies and this creates confusion between farmers and us,” Cheema said, adding that also officials also harass them if they store crops. Farmers in Barnala, Sangrur, Faridkot, Muktsar Sahib, Moga, Ludhiana, Mansa, Bathinda, Patiala, and Fazilka grow the non-recommended long varieties of paddy more. Hence, these districts also witness a higher number of stubble burning cases. Since the crop takes more time to harvest, the farmers are left with very little time to prepare their field for wheat, so they quickly burn the paddy straw to clear the fields.
