Chandigarh: A central team will visit Punjab today to assess crop damage caused by recent rains, with expectations of a key decision on procurement norms.<\/p>\n
The nine-member team, led by PK Singh, Deputy Director in the Union Consumer Affairs and Food Ministry, will tour affected districts along with officials from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and the state government. Wheat samples will also be collected during the visit.<\/p>\n
Punjab has already urged the Centre to relax procurement norms so that farmers can sell their produce at the minimum support price (MSP) of \u20b92,585 per quintal despite quality damage.<\/p>\n
According to estimates, around 1.30 lakh acres of standing crop have been severely affected, while quality deterioration is feared across several lakh acres. Wheat arriving in mandis is showing moisture levels of up to 15% against the prescribed 12%, with initial assessments indicating up to 60% luster loss.<\/p>\n
Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann had earlier met Union Food Minister Prahlad Joshi in Delhi, seeking relaxation in procurement rules. The state has also initiated special girdawari (crop assessment).<\/p>\n
Notably, similar relief has already been granted to Rajasthan after unseasonal rains and hailstorms damaged crops earlier this month. The Centre allowed procurement of wheat with up to 50% luster loss and 15% shrivelled or broken grains at MSP for the Rabi marketing season 2026\u201327.<\/p>\n
A similar decision for Punjab is now awaited following the central team\u2019s assessment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Chandigarh: A central team will visit Punjab today to assess crop damage caused by recent rains, with expectations of a key decision on procurement norms. The nine-member team, led by PK Singh, Deputy Director in the Union Consumer Affairs and Food Ministry, will tour affected districts along with officials from the Food Corporation of India […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":63464,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,21,20],"tags":[14338,14336,14339,14337],"class_list":["post-63526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest","category-political-news","category-punjab","tag-after-rains","tag-central-team-to-visit-punjab","tag-msp-relief-under-consideration","tag-today-to-assess-crop-damage"],"yoast_head":"\n