Wheat procurement up this year

With dilution in quality norms, FCI and state agencies buy 86% of total market arrivals, against 78.5% last year; UP has seen a rise of 369%

Government wheat procurement is higher than last year till date, despite a drop in production.Food Corporation of India (FCI) and its state counterparts have bought the bulk of arrivals at major wholesale markets ( mandis ), following a relaxation in quality norms. A decision by the Centre to reimburse state governments the value lost by purchasing poor quality wheat has enabled the latter to give the full Minimum Support Price to growers, encouraging them to bring their produce to the market.

FCI has bought 27.13 million tonnes till date, of the total market arrivals of 31.53 mt or 86 per cent. Over the same period last year, total procurement was 26.61 mt or 78.5 per cent of the total arrival.

“We might end up purchasing 27.5 mt this year, only marginally lower than last year’s actual procurement of 28 mt,” a senior FCI official said.

Uttar Pradesh's data stands out, with procurement up 369 per cent in 2015-16, from 0.39 mt to 1.83 mt.

Production in the 2014-15 crop year that started last June is expected to be 90.78 mt, almost six mt less than the previous year, as 18 million hectares was impacted due to sudden unseasonal rain and hail during the rabi season.

Though production is less, FCI and state agencies have purchased more from farmers as mentioned earlier, with the Centre lowering the quality parameters. In Punjab, for instance, the Centre would purchase up to 10 per cent of broken and shrivelled grain against the earlier six per cent norm. It also decided to purchase wheat in which almost 50 per cent lustre has been lost. In Haryana, it has decided to purchase up to 90 per cent lustre-lost wheat. So, too, for other states.

In Punjab, 9.95 mt has been purchased of the total arrival of 10.5 mt. In the same period last year, 10.77 mt was bought of the 11.93 mt arrival. That makes it almost 95 per cent of the arrival in Punjab; it was 90.3 per cent in the same period last year. In Haryana, FCI and others have purchased 6.75 mt, up from 6.41 mt last year.

In MP, state agencies and FCI had bought 7.26 mt till this Wednesday as against 7.09 mt in the same period last year. Foodgrain stock in the central pool as on May 1 was 59.13 mt, almost 44 per cent more than the required quantity. Of these, rice was 17.04 mt and wheat was 34.12 mt.