Uttar Pradesh has seen record wheat production for the second successive year, but a new set of problems seem be taking centre stage.

The Allahabad High Court, listening to a PIL filed about the alleged damage to grain due to showers in Lakhimpur district, came down heavily on the state government, saying that the money should be recovered from concerned officials. The court directed the state government to arrange proper storage of surplus grain along with the oft-quoted concern that while wheat is rotting, millions of poor in the country are dying due to want of food.

In order to tide over the difficult situation of a record bumper wheat crop, insufficient storage capacity and rising tempers over wheat rotting in the open, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to ease the pressure on grain storage and distribute the additional nine lakh metric tonne (mt) of the stock, which is lying in the open, through the public distribution system (PDS).

Food and civil supplies minister Raghuraj Pratap SIngh, in a hurriedly called press conference here on Thursday, elaborated upon the measures that the state government is taking in the backdrop of the HC judgement.

Addressing mediapersons, the minister said that while the target for wheat procurement was 42 lakh mt, his department has already procured 49.60 lakh mt keeping in mind the problems faced by the farmers. He said the procurements centres are there till June 30. ?The final procurement figure is likely to be at around 50 lakh mt, which is way beyond our expectations,? he said.

?We are trying to work out the disposal of the grain lying the open through the ration shops first so that the problem of wastage does not arise,? said Balwinder Kumar, principal secretary, food and civil supplies, who was also present at the press conference.

?Out of the 9 lakh mt of the grain that will be disposed of through the PDS, 6 lakh mt would be wheat while 3 lakh mt would be rice,? he said, adding that the wheat production this year is the highest so far. ?The state’s previous best record was 38.5 lakh mt in 2008-09,? he said.

It may be mentioned that taking note of the limited storage capacity and the buying agencies exceeding their target this year, the state government had decided to end wheat procurement by the end of this month.