According to the most recent official figures, wheat procurement has increased by 41% to 24.6% million tonnes (mt) as of May 7 in the current procurement season (April-June), compared to 17.53 mt a year earlier. For this season, the procurement goal has been set at 34.15 mt.
Currently, over 85% of the 28.7 mt of wheat from three States, including Punjab(13.2 mt) Madhya Pradesh (8 mt) and Haryana (7.5 mt) has been met. However, the same results haven’t been achieved in other states as only 7% of the targeted 5.45 mt wheat was in demand.
Wheat procurement in Rajasthan has made significant progress in the last 10 to 12 days. The state was required to reach a target of 0.5 mt and 2.32 lakh tonnes.
On April 24, when the purchase was only approximately 25,000 tonnes, the State's chief secretary called a conference with all stakeholders and instructed all agencies to purchase from tenant farmers who lack documentation for their land leases because many of them were being denied MSP payments.
According to an English Daily, he requested the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to expand the 166 procurement centres that had been operational as of April 23. The Chief Secretary instructed staff to purchase from farmers who had completed land leasing agreements after the procurement process began.
Punjab has seen a 25.2% rise in purchases from the level of 9.37 mt last year to 11.73 mt as of May 7. In Madhya Pradesh, wheat purchases have increased by 64.4% to 6.38 mt from 3.88 mt, while in Haryana, they have increased by 51.4% to 6.16 mt from 4.07 mt a year earlier.
As per the official data, procurement in Uttar Pradesh, the state that produces the most wheat, decreased by 22.6% to 0.15 mt from 0.2 mt. Rajasthan, however, has so far added 0.23 mt to the Central Pool storage, compared to just 758 tonnes during the same time last year.
Wheat procurement in India fell drastically in the year 2022-23, making it a 15-year low at 18.79 mt consumption. This propelled the government to ban its export and it is still being continued.
