The harvesting of wheat in states of Punjab and Haryana is likely to get delayed by at least 10 days due to untimely rains lashing several parts of the northern region. The rains have lashed several parts of Punjab and Haryana including Faridkot, Ferozepur, Mohali, Bathinda, Amritsar, Rajpura and Hissar. The district of Amritsar has faced maximum crop loss in Punjab with state’s overall crop yield getting affected by 5 to 7 percent.
Wheat harvesting normally starts by March end or first week of April month. The said inclement weather conditions prevailing at this stage will see wheat arrivals in grain markets of Punjab likely to pick up only after the second week of April. Last season, wheat arrivals picked up from April 10.
Punjab and Haryana, which are major foodgrain growing states, have 38 lakh hectares and 25 lakh hectares of area, respectively, under wheat in rabi season. Punjab is expecting wheat procurement of 115 lakh tonnes for Rabi marketing season 2014-15 as against 110 lakh tonne procured in 2013-14 season.