The country’s wheat production is expected to touch a new record of 112.18 million tonne (MT) in the 2022-23 crop year (July-June), the agriculture ministry’s said on Tuesday, a development that could help cool inflation, the retail version of which spiked to a three-month high of 6.52% in January.
Inflation in wheat prices rose by a sharp 25.05% on year in January, pushing up retail food inflation to 5.94% from 4.19% reported in the previous month. Wheat production had declined marginally to 107.74 MT last year due to heat wave in some states.
The previous record in wheat production was 109.59 MT in 2020-21 crop year. Wheat is the principal rabi crop.
As per the second estimate of foodgrains production released by the agriculture ministry, total foodgrain production is also estimated to touch a record of 323.55 MT in the 2022-23 crop year, higher by 7.93 MT from the previous year.
Total area planted with wheat crop has risen by only 1.39 lakh hectares to 343.23 lakh hectares (ha) in the rabi season of the 2022-23 crop year (July-June) from the year-ago period, but the crop yields are expected to be better due to good weather conditions.
Wheat has already started arriving in Madhya Pradesh, one of the major wheat growing states in the country.
The government is exploring options like imposing stockholding limit for wheat and releasing additional quantities of the grain over and above the 3 MT already approved for the open market sale from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) stocks to cool retail prices.
Besides, it may continue with the ban on wheat exports imposed last year till the end of the 2023-24 marketing season (April-June). “We will take all possible measures in the next few weeks to prevent any spike in domestic prices of wheat and flour,” a food ministry official told FE recently.
The aim is to bring down wheat prices, prior to commencement of Minimum Support Price (MSP) purchase by FCI and state agencies from April 1.
Following the selling of wheat in the open market from FCI stock in the first e-auction held at the beginning of this month, mandi prices of wheat have dropped from a range of Rs 2,900-3,000/quintal to around Rs 2,450-2,500/quintal at the present. This price is against the Minimum Support Price of Rs 2,125/quintal announced for the 2023-24 marketing season.