New Delhi. Due to the expectation of excellent production and strong arrival of new goods in the markets, there was a huge slowdown in the wheat market for the last few weeks, but due to good buying by government agencies as well as trading firms and flour mills, the market stabilized to a great extent during the week of 12-18 April. The price of wheat of Uttar Pradesh / Rajasthan in Delhi improved by 20 rupees to reach Rs 2645/2645 per quintal.

A mixed trend was seen in the prices of wheat in the markets of Madhya Pradesh. There its price increased to Rs 2400/3020 per quintal in Indore, improved to Rs 2440/2510 in Dabra and increased to Rs 2550/2650 per quintal in Khandwa, but fell slightly to Rs 2450/3000 per quintal in Ujjain. It is known that in Madhya Pradesh, the government is purchasing wheat from farmers at the rate of Rs 2600 per quintal, which includes the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 2425 per quintal fixed by the Central Government and an additional bonus of Rs 175 per quintal announced by the state government. As a result, a good increase is being seen in the government purchase of wheat there.

In three important mandis of Rajasthan - Kota, Baran and Bundi, the price of wheat remained stuck at the previous level and there was no change in it. Like Madhya Pradesh, there is a huge inflow of wheat in the mandis of Rajasthan and it is being purchased in large quantities by government agencies at the rate of Rs 2575 per quintal. In Rajasthan, it has been decided to give an additional bonus of Rs 150 per quintal over and above the MSP on wheat.

After a huge fall in the most prominent producing state - Uttar Pradesh, the price of wheat has now started improving. During the week under review, an increase of Rs 25-50 per quintal was seen in most of the major mandis. There is no provision for bonus there.

Government procurement of wheat at the national level has crossed the limit of 85 lakh tonnes. Madhya Pradesh and Haryana have contributed more in this. The arrival of wheat from Madhya Pradesh to Punjab and government procurement has also started gaining momentum. The procurement situation in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh is better than last year. This time the Union Food Ministry has set a target of procurement of 312.70 lakh tonnes of wheat at the national level and this target is expected to be achieved.