Wheat procurement by state agencies that is tipped to cross an all-time high of 22 million tonne could taper off in the coming few days as both arrivals and buying is slowing down, a senior government official said.
The procurement by state-run agencies has almost doubled from last year?s total purchases of around 11.1 million tonne.
?Both arrivals and procurement is tapering off, but we are still confident of purchasing almost 40,000 tonne daily for the next few days,? an official, on condition of anonymity, said.
The onset of monsoon over north, in the coming few weeks, could also slowdown procurement as storing wheat in the open during monsoon could damage the crop.
The government has set a procurement target of 15 million tonne for the current year for ensuring enough wheat for the buffer stock and public distribution system (PDS). The record wheat procurement follows after two years of shortfall forcing the government to import wheat.
India imported more than 1.8 million tonne of wheat in 2007 as it could only procure about 11 million tonne against the target of 15 million tonne.