Bathinda: Upset over the procurement agencies’ policy of not buying paddy with moisture content more than 17%, seven farmer organisations of Punjab on Monday disrupted traffic at various national and state highways across the state. The activists of the farm organisations were demanding that the limit of moisture content be raised to 24%. The protest continued for three hours from 12 noon to 3 pm.The farmer organisations, which held the protests included BKU (Ekta Ugrahan), BKU (Ekta Dakaunda), Kirti Kisan Union, Kisan Sangharsh Committee (Pannu), Bharti Kisan Union (Krantikari), Azad Kisan Sangharsh Committee and Krantikari Kisan Union.The road blockade protests were held at seven places each in Bathinda and Sangrur, at six places in Barnala, at five places each in Mansa and Moga, at three places in Ludhiana and at one place each in Faridkot, Muktsar, Ferozepur, Fazilka, Tarn Taran, Amritsar and Gurdaspur districts.“The state government allowed transplantation of paddy only from June 20 and then rains lashed the region in September which raised the moisture content in paddy beyond the limit of 17%. Now procurement agencies are not purchasing paddy due to more moisture content. We want it to be raised to 24% so that the farmers may not have to face harassment in the grain markets,” said BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokri.

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