According to the most-recent data released by the government, wheat procurement in the ongoing marketing season has thus far touched almost 223 lakh tonnes, as against the same-period year-before figures of 190.69 lakh tonnes. Further, it is being expected that by the end of this week, wheat procurement would likely surpass last year’s record 226.89 lakh tonnes purchase!

The procurement for the season, which commenced on March 18 in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat and on April 1 in other states, would expectedly continue till June. Thus far, Punjab has procured 105.93 lakh tonnes of wheat; Haryana a record 68.70 lakh tonnes; UP 21.50 lakh tonnes; MP 15 lakh tonnes; and Rajasthan purchased 9.94 lakh tonnes.

The high procurement of wheat has resulted from its higher support price - of Rs 1,080 a quintal – along with a plentiful production of more than 77 million tonnes. The government’s overall target for procurement of wheat this season has been set at 244 lakh tonnes.  

On Wednesday, nearly 1.53 lakh tonnes of wheat were procured by Food Corporation of India (FCI) and other government agencies procured; out of the 1.62 lakh tonnes total wheat arrivals in various mandis. With the higher wheat procurement likely to cause storage-related problems, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar met with senior officials of the Agriculture Ministry and the FCI to find a solution.