DW BUREAU / chandigarh In the wake of a "drastic decline" in wheat arrivals across Punjab, the Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs has decided to conclude the procurement of the crop in the mandis across the state. Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister, Lal Chand Kataruchak on Tuesday said that the closure of mandis in the state shall be done in a phased manner starting from May 5. The notification in this regard would be issued by the Punjab Mandi Board, he said, as per an official statement here. The minister thanked farmers, arhtiyas (commission agents), labourers, transporters and government officials involved in the month-long exercise of procurement of wheat in the state. He expressed satisfaction with the pace of purchase and the speedy disbursal of MSP dues directly into the bank accounts of farmers. This, he said, happened despite the challenges posed by the inclement weather which had resulted in shrivelling of grains in most parts of the state. Following a spurt in global wheat prices, most states had witnessed a drastic drop in government purchase of wheat, but once again Punjab led the nation in contributing the largest quantity of wheat into the central pool, he said. The state has purchased more than 93 lakh tonnes of wheat so far, he added. There has been a rise in demand for the crop in the international market because of the Russia-Ukraine war and the purchase of wheat by private traders has increased. Speaking about the "delay" in relaxation of norms for shrivelled grains, he said that the Department of Food and Public Distribution, Government of India had decided to send a second set of officials to take samples from the mandis to ascertain the extent of the problem of shrivelled grains. A target of 132 lakh tonnes of wheat purchase was fixed before the start of the procurement of the crop from April. Punjab's wheat output was expected to be impacted this season because of the adverse impact of the early onset of the summer season followed by a sudden rise in temperatures, officials had earlier said. Wheat growers at many places in the state reported drop in yield and shrivelled grains due to the early onset of summer and heat waves. According to the crop cutting experiments carried out by the state agriculture department recently, there was an average drop of five quintals per hectare in the wheat yield. The state had witnessed 48.68 quintals per hectare as wheat yield last year. Punjab's overall wheat output last year was around 171 lakh tonnes. (editor@dailyworld.in)