The wheat procurement process, which officially began on April 1, is yet to pick up pace in the Doaba region, with only minimal arrivals reported at grain markets. In Jalandhar district, only 300 metric tonnes (MT) of wheat have reached procurement centres, while nearly 1,700 MT has been brought to mandis in Kapurthala. Procurement has yet to begin in Hoshiarpur and SBS Nagar districts.
Experts say the arrival process will gain momentum after April 15 as harvesting has been delayed due to unfavourable weather conditions last week. In 2025, the procurement agencies procured 13.84 lakh MT of wheat from Doaba region comprising Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar. The state agencies are expecting to procure 14.50 lakh MT this time.
Jalandhar’s district food and supply controller (DFSC) Narinder Singh said all the arrangements have been made for a hassle-free procurement season. “We are expecting wheat arrivals in grain markets to pick up pace only after April 15,” he said.
Meanwhile, Jalandhar’s chief agriculture officer Jaswinder Singh said the wheat crop requires high temperatures during both day and night to dry properly so that the moisture content can be maintained at the time of harvesting.
“The farmers have been appealed to bring only dry yield to the grain markets so that they do not face any inconvenience,” he said.
Sarwan Singh Baupur, a farmer leader from Kapurthala, said the state government and procurement agencies must give some relaxations in the moisture content as heavy spells of rainfall in March and April have affected the crop health.
