There are sufficient food grain stocks in the central pool to meet the requirement for National Food Security Act and Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana and other welfare programmes, the food ministry said on Thursday. “About 15.9 million tonne (MT) of wheat will be available as on January 1, 2023, which is well above the buffer of 13.8 MT ,” according to the ministry.

Meanwhile, the Food Corporation of India (FCI)’s wheat stock fell to 19 MT on December 1, which was at six-year low. This is against the buffer of 13.8 mt for the beginning of next year. However, the current stock of 11.5 MT of rice along with 24.8 MT to be received from millers is far more than the requirement of 7.6 MT at the beginning of the next year.

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Overall food grain stocks with the FCI at the beginning of the month were 30.5 MT against buffer norm of 21.4 MT for January 1.

The ministry stated that the government is aware of the price scenario of wheat and ‘is constantly monitoring it regularly on a weekly basis along with other commodities and taking corrective measures such exports regulations for curbing price rise,’.

It stated that procurement of wheat during last season was on lower side due to lesser production coupled with selling by farmers at prices higher than Minimum Support Price in the open market consequent to geo-political situation.

“Yet enough stock of wheat will still be available in the Central Pool to cater to the needs of the country till the time the next wheat crop arrives,” according to a statement by the ministry.

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Wheat inflation rose by 19.67% in November 2022.

Due lower production and higher global demand, FCI’s procurement in 2022-23 season fell by more than 56.6% to only 18.8 MT against 43.3 MT purchased from the farmers in the previous year.

Wheat output in the 2021-22 crop year (July-June), as per the agriculture ministry, has declined by around 3% on year to 106.8 MT because of heat waves during the flowering stage of the crop in March.

In May, 2022, India banned wheat exports for ensuring domestic supplies.

The FCI had earlier stopped sale of wheat in the open market from its stocks for the first time more than a decade in view of a sharp drop in procurement in 2022-23 rabi marketing season and additional allocations of the grain under the free ration scheme.

According to the department of consumer affairs’ price monitoring cell data, the modal retail price of wheat and flour (atta) on Thursday rose to Rs 28/kg and Rs 35/kg, respectively, from Rs 23/kg and Rs 28/kg three months ago.