Food ministry eases wheat procurement norms for Punjab, Haryana & Rajasthan

To prevent distress sale by farmers and ensure minimum support price (MSP), the food ministry has relaxed quality norms for procurement wheat by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and state agencies for Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.

The recent unseasonal rainfall and hailstorm in a few areas had damaged the standing wheat crop in key producing states, which was ready for harvest. These state governments had demanded that procurement rules be relaxed.

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%.

Also Read: Govt to relax norms for wheat procurement in Punjab and Haryana

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

A similar value cut will be imposed for every additional relaxation of 2% of damaged wheat.

“There would be a marginal value cut of Rs 31.87/quintal on MSP payment to the farmers who bring in damaged grains between 16%-18%,” an official told FE.

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 Rs 5.31/quintal.

On March 31, the food ministry eased its procurement rules by allowing farmers in Madhya Pradesh to sell their wheat to the ministry at a marginal value reduction of only Rs 5.31 per quintal, compared to the MSP for the current season of Rs 2,125 per quintal.

The food ministry has urged states to liquidate wheat stocks procured under the relaxed procurement norms.

Meanwhile, the FCI and state agencies till Monday purchased around 1.32 million tonne (MT) of wheat since the MSP operations for the current season officially commenced from April 1. The MSP purchase so far is marginally higher than compared to the same period last year.

Also Read: Wheat crop robust, output to hit record 112 MT: Govt

Most of the wheat purchased from farmers in the current marketing season (April-June) has been from Madhya Pradesh while a small quantity of grain has been procured in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

Officials said that arrivals and procurement of wheat are expected to gather momentum in the next 10 days as unseasonal rainfall since mid-March in key wheat growing states caused damages to crops in some places besides delaying harvest.

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

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 un-seasonal 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.

The wheat held with FCI has dropped to 8.51 MT just above the buffer of 7.4 MT for April 1. The wheat stock is at present lowest since 2017.