Centre braces up for record wheat procurement

The government is preparing to buy a record 26 million tonnes of wheat for the Central pool this season as the procurement season begins in the next few days, after the states, especially Punjab and Haryana, informed it that they are expecting record production.

"We should be prepared to buy as much wheat as farmers bring in," a top government official said here today. The official, however, made it clear that it is not a target.

Last year, the government had purchased a record 25.3 million tonnes of wheat when production was at an all time high of 80.68 million tonnes.

Meanwhile, Punjab and Haryana are expecting to procure a record 18.5 million tonnes of wheat or more than a million tonnes from last year, for the Central pool this season, on hopes of a bumper Rabi crop. While Punjab is targeting to lift 11.5 million tonnes, Haryana is expecting 7 million tonnes, according to officials of the food and supplies departments of both the states.

Last season, these states broke all records in their contribution to the Central pool chipping in with 10.75 million tonnes and 6.92 million tonnes, respectively.

With conducive weather, these states are confident of achieving bumper wheat output of nearly 27 million tonnes, despite marginal dip in area under cultivation. Punjab is eyeing 15.49 million tonnes, while Haryana is pegging it at 11.46 million tonnes for the upcoming Rabi season.

Food and agriculture minister Sharad Pawar had recently expressed confidence that wheat output would be higher than last year.

The government's wheat procurement starts from April and it continues till June.

At a meeting of the wheat growing states last month, the Centre was informed that government purchases could be 240-260 lakh tonne with the possibility of a bumper output this year, senior officials said.

Arrangements are being made for procurement as major requirements would be of gunny bags and storage space, the officials said. They also said there would not be any problem in procurement and government would buy whatever quantity farmers bring in to the purchase centres.

The government has raised the minimum support price of wheat to Rs 1,100 a quintal this year from Rs 1,080 a quintal in 2009. Experts said more procurement would help the government offload the grain to the needy at cheaper rate when food inflation is above 16 per cent.

"Apart from continuing with the PDS supply, the government can also offload wheat in the open market to keep a check on prices," a flour miller said.

As on March 1, the Centre had 183.88 lakh tonne wheat and 26.95 million tonnes of rice in the buffer stock. It is well above the buffer norm that prescribes to maintain only 12.2 million tonnes of rice and 4 million tonnes of wheat on April 1. Buffer norms are divided into four quarters with a prescribed quantity at the beginning of each quarter.