Days before the arrival of monsoon in North India, food procurement agency Food Corporation of India (FCI) has asked Punjab to give details about freshly harvested wheat crop, stored in poor conditions, to move it on priority basis to prevent wastage due to exposure to rains.
“We have sought details from Punjab government to give us information about wheat, which is stored in unscientific manner and is suspectible to damage in coming monsoon,” a n FCI official said here today.
Our effort is to move such wheat out of state as soon as possible so that it is not damaged by rains, he said. Wheat storage at less than 1.5 feet from the ground level in the open particularly in low lying areas, is considered unscientific.
On the basis of FCI assessment, about 8 lakh tonne of wheat, stored in an unscientific manner in Amritsar, Patiala, Fatehgarh Sahib and Machhiwara, could get damaged in rains if steps are not taken to remove the stock in time.
“Once the state informs us how much stock they think is susceptible to damage, adequate steps will be taken to move it out of the state on priority basis to other consuming states,” he said.
About 55,000 tonnes of wheat was damaged in Punjab due to rains in last three years. FCI in Haryana also said it has identified 4 lakh tonnes of wheat prone to damage because of rains. It said it is geared up to move this stock at the earliest.
Notably, bulk of the wheat crop is stored in open in both states due to inadequate capacity of covered space.
