Farmers and traders in the district are a harassed lot as the ongoing wheat procurement season is marred with slow lifting leading to a glut-like situation. As per procurement norms, it is mandatory for the procuring agencies to lift the crop within 72 hours of purchase to avoid a glut. While around 3.5 lakh metric tonne wheat yield has been procured by purchasing agencies from the grain markets here, 2.6 lakh metric tonne is still to be lifted from 67 purchase centres of the district. At the Faridkot grain market, which has a total capacity of 40,000 metric tonne, only 10% has been lifted. Sources said the situation worsened as there was no space to store the produce in markets. Around 70% of the region’s wheat has arrived in the market. Due to slow lifting, there is no space to unload new produce. The district administration failed to ensure lifting of the crop. Farmers say they are worried that rain will destroy six-month of hard work. They have threatened a stir and asked authorities to speed up the process of lifting in grain markets.