Centre's wheat procurement up 12.5% to over 17 mn tons so far

NEW DELHI: With the arrivals of wheat picking up in key growing states of Punjab and Haryana, the Centre's grain purchase has risen by 12.5 per cent to 17.11 million tonnes so far in 2013-14 marketing season that started this month.

The wheat procurement stood at 15.21 million tonnes (MT) in the same period corresponding year. Procurement of wheat, a major rabi crop, begins from April and continues till June.

A sharp rise in arrival of the grain has increased the government's procurement in Punjab and Madhya Pradesh, while it is lagging in Haryana as on April 26.

Wheat arrival rose to 18.47 MT so far, as against 16.34 MT in the year-ago period. Wheat is being purchased at the support price of Rs 1,350 per quintal.

Wheat purchase in Punjab has increased to 7.5 MT so far, as against 5.4 MT in the year-ago period, according to data by state-run Food Corporation of India ( FCI), the nodal agency for procurement and distribution of foodgrains.

In Madhya Pradesh, procurement has increased to 4.2 MT from 3.5 MT in the review period.

However, the procurement of wheat in Haryana lagged behind at 4.7 MT as on April 26 due to poor arrival. The wheat buy in the state stood at 5.4 MT in the same period last year.

The government is targeting to procure a record 44.12 MT of wheat in the ongoing 2013-14 season as production is expected to be 92.30 MT.

Besides the central agency FCI, wheat is also being procured by the state governments, cooperatives and others.

The government buys wheat from farmers at the minimum support price to meet demands under various welfare schemes like mid-day meal programme and also for buffer requirement