Government procurement of wheat by the end of March is 6 lakh tonnes ahead of last year
02-Apr-2025 12:41 PM
New Delhi. With the procurement process starting from March 10 in Rajasthan and from March 15-16 in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, the government procurement of wheat has increased to around 8.50 lakh tonnes by March 31, 2025, which is 6 lakh tonnes more than the procurement of about 2.50 lakh tonnes till the same period last year.
In Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, farmers are being given additional bonus over and above the minimum support price (MSP).
According to critics, in view of the increasing supply in the mandis and the vigorous efforts being made by the Uttar Pradesh government, it seems that the target of procurement of 313 lakh tonnes of wheat set for the current year will be achieved.
The Union Agriculture Ministry has estimated the domestic production of wheat to increase rapidly to an all-time high of 1154 lakh tonnes during the current year, while industry-trade organizations have formally started the wheat season and a huge amount of wheat is expected to be purchased by the agencies there in the two months of April-May.
The Madhya Pradesh government has announced to give farmers an additional bonus of Rs 175 per quintal over and above the minimum support price of Rs 2415 per quintal on wheat, which will give farmers a price of Rs 2600 per quintal.
The arrival of wheat at government procurement centres is increasing as the market price has come down.
Government procurement of wheat started in Madhya Pradesh from March 15 and from the initial 16 days i.e. till March 31, about 8 lakh tonnes of wheat was procured there. In the same period last year, less than 2.50 lakh tonnes of wheat was procured.
During the period under review, government procurement of wheat in Rajasthan also increased from 3500 tonnes to about 40 thousand tonnes.
Apart from this, about 3 thousand tonnes of wheat was procured in Uttar Pradesh and about 250 tonnes in Gujarat.
Punjab is the state that contributes the most wheat to the central pool. The process of procurement of this food grain has started there,
while the pace of procurement is expected to pick up after the Baisakhi festival. Meanwhile, vigorous procurement of wheat will continue in other states including Haryana.