The Food Corporation of India (FCI) and state agencies have purchased 0.35 million tonne (MT) of wheat since the minimum support price (MSP) operations for the current season officially commenced from April 1.
According to official data, most of the wheat purchased from the farmers in the current marketing season (April-June) have been reported from Madhya Pradesh while a small quantity of grain has been procured in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. The volume of wheat procurement is marginally higher than the same period last year.
Officials said that arrivals and procurement of wheat were expected to gather momentum by middle of this month as un-seasonal rainfall since mid-March in key wheat growing states caused damages to crops in some places besides delaying harvest.
The government is aiming to purchase 34.15 MT of wheat in the marketing season 2023.
The food ministry last week 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 Rs 5.31/quintal against the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 2,125/quintal for the current season.
“This relaxation in norms would help farmers against distress sale of the grain which has been impacted by rains this month,” a food ministry official said.
Sources said that similar relaxations in procurement norms of wheat will be extended to other Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan soon.
The government’s wheat procurement last year fell by more than 56.6% to 18.8 MT against 43.3 MT purchased from the farmers 2021 because output due to spike in March temperature and increase in private purchase because of global demand.
An agriculture ministry official said that about 10% of wheat crops is estimated to have been damaged in the areas that were impacted by recent rains and hailstorms in key producing states. The official said that the extent of damage is insignificant compared to wheat sown areas of 34 million hectare this year
For the current crop year (2022-23), the government has estimated a record wheat harvest of 112.18 MT. However private trade sources have estimated losses in wheat production in the range of 5-10%.
Total area under wheat crop is at a record 34.32 million hectare in the current crop year (July-June).
With consultation with the states, estimated wheat procurement targets for this season include – Punjab (13.2 MT), Madhya Pradesh (8 MT) and Haryana (7.5 MT). On April 1,
FCI has wheat stocks of 8.5 MT against a buffer for April 1 of 7.4 MT.
To replenish the stock, the FCI and state agencies have to purchase at least 30 MT of wheat in the April-June 2023 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.