Government purchase of wheat likely to fall short of set target
06-May-2025 08:25 PM
New Delhi. Although during the current Rabi marketing season, till May 4, government purchase of wheat at the national level has increased to 273.60 lakh tonnes—which is 42.30 lakh tonnes more than last year's purchase of 231.30 lakh tonnes during the same period and 7.60 lakh tonnes more than the total procurement of 266 lakh tonnes during the entire previous season—it still falls short by 59.10 lakh tonnes from the revised purchase target of 332.70 lakh tonnes.
Wheat procurement in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan has started to stagnate, while procurement in these states is still significantly behind their targets.
In Uttar Pradesh, the pace of wheat procurement remains slow, whereas Madhya Pradesh has shown encouraging performance. Procurement in Bihar and Gujarat has also remained much lower than the set targets.
In light of Madhya Pradesh’s strong performance, the Food Ministry has revised its procurement target for the state from 66 lakh tonnes to 80 lakh tonnes, and it appears likely that the target will be met there.
However, achieving procurement targets in the other states seems difficult. The national procurement target includes 124 lakh tonnes from Punjab, 75 lakh tonnes from Haryana,
30 lakh tonnes from Uttar Pradesh, 20 lakh tonnes from Rajasthan, 2 lakh tonnes from Bihar, 1 lakh tonne from Gujarat, 50 thousand tonnes from Uttarakhand, and 10 thousand tonnes each from Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
As of May 4, 2025, procurement figures stand at 111.90 lakh tonnes in Punjab, 67.70 lakh tonnes in Haryana, 12.80 lakh tonnes in Rajasthan, and 8.50 lakh tonnes in Uttar Pradesh.
The procurement deadlines for Punjab and Haryana will end on May 15, but arrivals at government procurement centres have already begun to decline.
While procurement will continue for a longer period in other states, farmers appear less interested in selling their grain to government agencies because private buyers are offering higher prices.
If government procurement reaches even 300 lakh tonnes, it will be considered a notable achievement.