Govt buys record wheat crop of over 40 mn tonnes at MSP for Rs 79,088 cr

The Centre on Friday said it has procured a record 400.45 lakh tonnes of wheat in the current marketing year that started in April, costing exchequer Rs 79,088 crore.

The record procurement of wheat has been achieved amid farmers' protests at Delhi borders since late November 2020. Farmer unions are demanding a repeal of three new farm laws and a legal guarantee of the Minimum Support Price (MSP).

Procurement of Wheat in ongoing RMS (Rabi Marketing Season) 2021-22 is continuing smoothly in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu & Kashmir at MSP, as was done in previous seasons.

Till May 27, a quantity of 400.45 lakh tonnes of wheat has been procured as against 353.09 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period.

"About 42.36 Lakh farmers have already been benefitted from the ongoing RMS procurement operations with MSP value of Rs. 79,088.77 Crore," an official statement said.

The procurement has exceeded the previous high of 389.92 lakh tonnes achieved in the full 2020-21 marketing year.

The Rabi Marketing season 2021-22 runs from April to March but the bulk of the procurement gets completed by June.

State-owned Food Corporation of India (FCI) is the nodal agency for procurement and distribution of foodgrains.

Under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), the Centre provides 5 kg of wheat and rice per person per month to around 80 crore people at a highly subsidised rate of Rs 2-3 per kg.