Wheat procurement to touch 21 mn tons this year
The government is expecting that wheat procurement will reach 21 million tons this year on the back of record production and higher support price being offered to farmers.
By PTI |
NEW DELHI: The government is expecting that wheat procurement will reach 21 million tons this year on the back of record production and higher support price being offered to farmers.
"The procurement has already reached 19.8 million tons (MT) and we expect that it would reach 21 MT," Food Corporation of India (FCI) Chairman and Managing Director Alok Sinha told PTI. FCI is the nodal agency for foodgrain procurement and distribution in the country.
The government had procured 11.1 MT last year for supply under the public distribution system against the targeted 15 MT.
The total daily arrival of wheat in various mandis across the country during last few days was around 2.5 lakh tons and it is expected that the trend would continue for another 10 days, he said.
Terming the procurement level of over 90 per cent of total arrivals in markets as "good" for farmers as well as the country, Sinha said: "We will not have to depend on any country for wheat and at the same time farmers have also got better price for their produce".
Sinha attributed better crop, higher minimum support price (MSP) and opening of more procurement centres for higher procurement. The government increased the MSP of wheat to Rs 1,000 per quintal from Rs 750 while production is estimated at record 76.78 million tons in 2007-08 season against 75.81 million tons in the previous year.
FCI has set up 15,000 procuring centres in the current marketing season against 14,000 last year, he said.
When asked whether he expected such a high level of procurement, Sinha said: "My assessment was 15 million tons plus. But we never expected that private traders will not take part in the procurement process this year".
The private traders had bought large quantities last year in anticipation of increase in price that never happened, the FCI CMD noted.
Sources said private wheat procurement stood at 1.2 MT this season compared to 3.9 MT last year.
The government would continue to procure wheat as long as farmers offer wheat at the MSP, he said.
Meanwhile, Punjab procured 9.7 MT and Haryana contributed 5.16 MT to the central pool till May 15.
The procurement in Uttar Pradesh stood at 1.83 MT, Madhya Pradesh 1.6 MT, Rajasthan 0.81 MT, Gujarat 0.25 MT and Bihar 0.12 MT.
The total procurement in Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and Delhi stood at 64,341 tons.
Buoyed by higher procurement in the current marketing season, Agriculture and Food Minister Sharad Pawar last week announced that government would not import wheat this year.
The government had imported 5.5 MT of wheat in 2006 as procurement fell to 9.2 MT against the targeted 15 MT. It had imported 1.8 MT in 2007 to boost its buffer stock.
"The procurement has already reached 19.8 million tons (MT) and we expect that it would reach 21 MT," Food Corporation of India (FCI) Chairman and Managing Director Alok Sinha told PTI. FCI is the nodal agency for foodgrain procurement and distribution in the country.
The government had procured 11.1 MT last year for supply under the public distribution system against the targeted 15 MT.
The total daily arrival of wheat in various mandis across the country during last few days was around 2.5 lakh tons and it is expected that the trend would continue for another 10 days, he said.
Terming the procurement level of over 90 per cent of total arrivals in markets as "good" for farmers as well as the country, Sinha said: "We will not have to depend on any country for wheat and at the same time farmers have also got better price for their produce".
Sinha attributed better crop, higher minimum support price (MSP) and opening of more procurement centres for higher procurement. The government increased the MSP of wheat to Rs 1,000 per quintal from Rs 750 while production is estimated at record 76.78 million tons in 2007-08 season against 75.81 million tons in the previous year.
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FCI has set up 15,000 procuring centres in the current marketing season against 14,000 last year, he said.
When asked whether he expected such a high level of procurement, Sinha said: "My assessment was 15 million tons plus. But we never expected that private traders will not take part in the procurement process this year".
The private traders had bought large quantities last year in anticipation of increase in price that never happened, the FCI CMD noted.
Sources said private wheat procurement stood at 1.2 MT this season compared to 3.9 MT last year.
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The government would continue to procure wheat as long as farmers offer wheat at the MSP, he said.
Meanwhile, Punjab procured 9.7 MT and Haryana contributed 5.16 MT to the central pool till May 15.
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The procurement in Uttar Pradesh stood at 1.83 MT, Madhya Pradesh 1.6 MT, Rajasthan 0.81 MT, Gujarat 0.25 MT and Bihar 0.12 MT.
The total procurement in Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and Delhi stood at 64,341 tons.
Buoyed by higher procurement in the current marketing season, Agriculture and Food Minister Sharad Pawar last week announced that government would not import wheat this year.
The government had imported 5.5 MT of wheat in 2006 as procurement fell to 9.2 MT against the targeted 15 MT. It had imported 1.8 MT in 2007 to boost its buffer stock.
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