Wheat procurement by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and state government agencies from farmers has crossed 2.54 million tonne (MT) since the operations commenced from April 1. Purchases till Thursday have been marginally higher on year.

According to official data, more than 2 MT of wheat have been purchased under the minimum support price (MSP) operations from farmers in Madhya Pradesh alone so far.

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The procurement operations have just picked up pace in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh despite delay in harvest due to unseasonal rains.

“In the next one week or so, wheat procurement is expected to cross 8 MT as harvesting of crops has gathered pace because of the warmer climate prevailed in the last one week or so,” a food ministry official told FE.

The government is aiming to procure 34 MT of wheat in the current season to bolster stock, which has plummeted to 8.4 MT in April 1, lowest level since 2016.

Earlier this week, the food ministry has allowed purchase of shriveled and broken grain up to 18% from farmers with prescribed value cut against existing limit of 6%.

In a communication to states, the ministry has approved imposition of a value cut of `5.31/quintal against the MSP of `2,125/quintal for the current season for wheat which has 6-8% of damaged grains.

In case of lustre loss in wheat caused by unseasonal rains in March and early April, the government has allowed procurement of grain up to 10% of affected kernel while grain with 10-80% impact will be purchased by agencies from the farmers a marginal value cut of only `5.31/quintal

The ministry on March 31 had relaxed procurement norms, by allowing purchase of grains with lustre losses above 10% from farmers in Madhya Pradesh with a marginal value cut of only `5.31/quintal against the MSP of `2,125/quintal for the current season.

The government’s wheat purchases last year fell by more than 56.6% to 18.8 MT against 43.3 MT purchased from the farmers in 2021 because of lower output due to the spike in March temperature and an increase in private purchase because of global demand.

To replenish the stock, the FCI and state agencies have to purchase at least 30 MT of wheat in this season from farmers so that sufficient quantity of grains is available for the implementation of the National Food Security Act and creation of adequate buffer stock. FCI needs to have a buffer of 27.57 MT of wheat by July 1.

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The government has stated that it is hopeful of a record wheat production of 112 MT in the current crop season (July-June), while ruling out any major reduction in grain output from recent unseasonal rains in key states.

The Roller Flour Millers’ Federation of India, in a survey report, had predicted the wheat production of 102.89 MT in the current crop year.