Punjab farmers are reaping the benefits of bumper crop this year. Wheat procurement in Ropar and Kharar has exceeded the figure achieved last season. In Ropar, the procurement is 66 per cent more than the last season, while in Kharar the figure stands at 117 per cent. In the Ropar market, the state and central agencies have procured 33,001 tonnes of wheat in the first 21 days of its arrival, while this figure was 19,786 tonnes last season. Morinda has registered 11,225 tonnes followed by Anandpur Sahib at 4,319 tonnes, Ropar at 4,124 tonnes and Chamkaur Sahib at 1,333 tonnes. Similarly, in Kharar, the total arrival of wheat last season was 34,655 quintals, while till today it was 75,278 quintals. In Kharar, Punjab Agro has been the major buyer with 44, 784 quintals of wheat procured from Kharar and Daun Majra markets. Punsup has followed the suit with 20, 131 quintal. During the onset of procurement, some framers' unions have opposed the banning of private players into the procurement market. Seeing this, market pundits have predicted that the farmers might go into the mode of storing their produce and later selling it to private players at a price higher than MSP. However, since the storing proved to be a costly affair, most of the farmers sold their produce to Central and state agencies in market.