SNE NETWORK.CHANDIGARH.
Punjab farmers are playing a leading role in grain production across the country. The state has set records especially in the production of wheat and rice. Their production is increasing in the state, due to which FCI is facing the challenge of storage. Despite this, the farmers of Punjab have ensured food security of the country with their hard work. This is the reason why this achievement of Punjab on the occasion of Vaisakhi is especially commendable.
In the year 2024-25, the state contributed a record 45 percent of wheat to the central pool. 121.31 lakh tonnes of wheat and 173.58 lakh tonnes of paddy were purchased. The production of rice and wheat is increasing every year in the state. This year also a record 124 lakh metric tonnes of wheat is expected to arrive in the mandis.
The state has always been ahead in the production of crops and the state has met the demand of the entire country with the production of wheat and rice. The farmers here have played an important role in filling the central storage. During the agitation demanding Minimum Support Price (MSP), the farmers of the state first stood on the border of Delhi and then Punjab-Haryana, despite this there was no decrease in the production of grains, rather on the contrary it is continuously increasing.
The Center sends the demand of grains to Punjab along with issuing cash credit limit, but every year more grains are being produced in Punjab than that. The situation is that due to increase in production every year, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) is facing the most storage problem in the state. The warehouses of FCI are full. Due to this, additional storage capacity is also being created in the state, which will be ready by the end of this year. This will enable more storage of grains in the state, which can be lifted to the neighboring states.
Highest production in the last eight years
If we look at the record of the last eight years, the farmers of the state have been at the forefront in the production of wheat and rice. Only in the year 2016-17 and 2021-22, Haryana has been ahead of Punjab in wheat production with a slight increase, while in the rest of the years, the farmers of Punjab have been on top in production. During the year 2023-24, Punjab has produced a record 4516 kg of rice per hectare and 5045 kg of wheat, which is the highest in the entire state.
Production of rice and wheat in kilograms per hectare in the last eight years
Wheat
Year Production
2016-17 4704
2017-18 5077
2018-19 5188
2019-20 5003
2020-21 4868
2021-22 4216
2022-23 4748
2023-24 5045
Rice –
Year Production
2016-17 3998
2017-18 4366
2018-19 4132
2019-20 4034
2020-21 4366
2021-22 4340
2022-23 4193
2023-24 4516