MSP wheat purchases increase 13%
According to official data, 16.13 MT of wheat has arrived in the key mandis so far, against 15.45 MT of arrivals reported in the first three weeks of commencement of the procurement season (April-June) last year.
After a sluggish start because of harvesting delays caused by unseasonal rains last month, wheat procurement by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and state government agencies has picked up pace in the last one week.
Wheat purchase by agencies from farmers has crossed 12.45 million tonne (MT) till Thursday since minimum support price (MSP) operations began on April 1, up 13% on year. Major contributors to wheat procurement so far have been Punjab (4.67 MT), Haryana (4.21 MT) and Madhya Pradesh (3.48 MT). MSP purchases in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan have been marginal.
According to official data, 16.13 MT of wheat has arrived in the key mandis so far, against 15.45 MT of arrivals reported in the first three weeks of commencement of the procurement season (April-June) last year. The MSP operations for wheat purchase have benefited 1.31 million farmers. Against the dues of Rs 26,188 crore to be paid to farmers for wheat purchase, the government agencies have paid Rs 12,037 crore till now.
“There has been some delay in payment of MSP against wheat procurement to the farmers because of the issue of imposition of value loss imposed by the food ministry under the relaxed procurement norms; some of the states have promised to pay the farmers the value loss imposed by the agencies,” a food ministry official told FE.
The government is aiming to procure 34 MT of wheat in the current season to bolster the stock, which has plummeted to 8.4 MT on April 1, the lowest level since 2016.
Last week, the food ministry allowed purchase of shriveled and broken grain up to 18% from farmers with prescribed value cut against the existing limit of 6% in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.
The ministry had on March 31 relaxed procurement norms, by allowing purchase of grains with lustre losses above 10% from farmers in Madhya Pradesh, with a marginal value cut of `5.31/quintal against the MSP of `2,125/quintal for the current season.
The government’s wheat purchases last year fell by more than 56.6% to 18.8 MT, against 43.3 MT purchased from farmers in 2021, because of lower output due to a spike in March temperatures and an increase in private purchase because of global demand.
To replenish the stock, the FCI and state agencies have to purchase at least 30 MT of wheat this season from farmers, so that a sufficient quantity of grains is available for the implementation of the National Food Security Act and creation of an adequate buffer stock. FCI needs to have a buffer of 27.57 MT by July 1.
The government has stated that it is hopeful of a record wheat production of 112 MT in the current crop season (July-June), while ruling out any major reduction in grain output due to recent unseasonal rains in key states.
The Roller Flour Millers’ Federation of India, in a survey report, had predicted the wheat production of 102.89 MT in the current crop year.
