March 25, 2011
 

India's wheat procurement affected by shortage of labour

The Food Corporation of India has set a grand target of 26 million tonnes of wheat procurement, but Punjab, the major contributor to India's wheat, may experience procurement blues.

This rabi season, a shortage of labour might create a blockage for wheat procurement in the state. Harvesting of wheat, a major rabi crop, will begin after April 13 and is predicted to take six weeks to complete.

More than 11 million tonnes of wheat will be obtained for the central pool by various government agencies from 1,700 mandis in Punjab. The state alone accounts for approximately 40% of the total wheat obtained by the government and any delay in the process could seriously disrupt the movement of wheat to consumer states.

Punjab's agriculture is principally dependent on immigrant labourers from less developed states. The administrative restructuring and implementation of the employment guarantee schemes in Bihar have also affected the entry of labour to Punjab. The maximum wage of INR150 (US$3.35) each day for loading, unloading, cleaning, filling up of sacks and sewing the gunny bags is not attractive for the labourers, said Harbans Singh Rosha, chairman of the marketing committee in Khanna, the biggest grain market in Punjab, about 100 kilometres from Chandigarh, that handles about two million tonnes each season.

According to Chairman of Patiala Arhtiya Association, M R Gupta, besides the shortage of storage space in mandis due to an increase in production, there is a severe scarcity of manpower. The government agencies too, he said, are shorthanded.

"One inspector is assigned four or five mandis for purchase. He has to go from one stock pile to another to assess the quality of grain. The grain should be lifted within 24 hours of arrival as per the guidelines of the Punjab Mandi Board but it takes 8-10 days or more for transporting bags to godowns."

Pawan Kumar of Bhatinda Mandi said grains lose the water content if it is not lifted in time and the late movement causes loss to the arhtiyas and affects the grain quality.

FCI officials expect an influx of labourers from other states in the second week of April.

Global wheat output is estimated to increase by 3.4 % to 676 million tonnes in 2011 as high global prices resulted in an increase in the area under coverage in many countries, UN's body Food and Agriculture Oraganisation (FAO) said.