Government procurement of wheat limited to 266 lakh tonnes
02-Jul-2024 11:17 AM
New Delhi. During the current year, in the Rabi marketing season from 1 April to 30 June, a total of 266 lakh tonnes of wheat was procured at the national level by the central agency - Food Corporation of India (FCI) and its associated provincial agencies,
which was more than 262 tonnes in the year 2023 and 188 tonnes in 2022, but much less than the target of 373 lakh tonnes for 2024.
Wheat procurement could not reach 300 lakh tonnes this time too, while the Rabi marketing season practically and actually ended on 30 June.
It is understood that to woo the farmers, the government had increased the minimum support price of wheat by Rs 150 from last year's Rs 2125 per quintal to Rs 2275 per quintal this time, but in some states, private traders made a gross effort to buy wheat from farmers at a higher price than this.
This affected government procurement. In view of this, the government has now imposed storage limits on wheat.
Government procurement of wheat reached an all-time high of 433.40 lakh tonnes in 2021, but since then it has remained below 300 lakh tonnes.
Although Punjab and Haryana together have government procurement of 196 lakh tonnes of wheat this time, which is 93 per cent of the target of 210 lakh tonnes, on the other hand, in states like Madhya Pradesh,
Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, much less wheat could be procured as compared to the target. A target of procuring 160 lakh tonnes of wheat was set in these three states together, but the actual procurement was limited to just 69.80 lakh tonnes.
In the year 2024, when a record procurement of more than 433 lakh tonnes of wheat was made, about 444 lakh tonnes arrived in the mandis.
During the current year, the total arrival of wheat is estimated to be a little over 360 lakh tonnes, out of which 266 lakh tonnes were procured by the government.
According to trade analysts, the government has purchased wheat enough to meet its needs, but the challenge of controlling the rise in the wheat market from November will remain.