After a slow start, the government’s wheat procurement drive has gathered momentum, with Food Corporation of India and state government owned agencies purchasing 4.4 million tonne till date against 3.4 million tonne during the same period last year, an increase of more than 29%.
According to data by agriculture ministry on Monday, wheat procurement in Punjab is close to 1 million tonne while Haryana has already contributed 2.2 million tonne to the central pool.
Madhya Pradesh’s contribution of wheat has gone up significantly this year mainly due to a bumper wheat crop. Till date, the state has lifted 1.2 million tonne of wheat as against only 5.32 lakh tonne in the same period last year.
Madhya Pradesh government has announced a bonus of Rs 100 per quintal above minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 1,100 per quintal announced by the central government.Other key wheat growing states such as Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have contributed smaller amounts to central pool.
As on April 1, the government had stocks of 16.1 million tonne of wheat in the central pool, which is much above the strategic reserve and buffer stocks norms.
Analysts told FE that private players are aggressively procuring from farmers this season due to huge procurement by the government last year which had squeezed supplies in the open market. The government has managed to sell only 1.2 million tonne of wheat to bulk buyers under Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) out of the total allocation of 2.08 million tonne during October 2009 – March 2010.
The government is aiming to procure around 26.2 million tonne of wheat during the current season. FCI and states agencies had procured over 25 million tonne of the grain last year. Punjab and Haryana have set a target of purchasing 8.5 million tonne of wheat from farmers this year, a million tonne higher than last year.