Arrivals show higher wheat procurement in Punjab

Procurement till 21 April was 6.562 mn tonnes against 3.876 mn tonnes during the corresponding period last year

After the controversy over missing food grains, Punjab is gearing up for higher wheat procurement this year over the last season.

Wheat arrivals have gained momentum after the announcement of authorisation of Rs 17,523 cr of cash credit limit for procurement from the Reserve Bank of India. State is likely to surpass the target for wheat purchase in the kharif marketing season 2016. The procurement till 21 April, this Thursday was 6.562 million tonnes against 3.876 million tonnes during the corresponding period last year, indicating a sharp rise in arrivals.

The average daily arrival during this week has been 8,00,000 to 10,00,000 ton per day which is higher than the average of 2,00,000 to 4,00,000 tone per day of last year, confirmed an official in Food Corporation of India, adding that the warm weather in the last few days had helped in faster maturing and harvesting of crop.

RBI cleared the first instalment for procurement of nine million tonnes of wheat, a week after a controversy over Rs 12,000 crore worth of missing food grain had erupted in the state.

The farmers receive payments through arhtiyas or commission agents (the middlemen who play a crucial role in lending money, services and buying crop from the farmers) and procurement agencies release payments to them within a few days of purchase of crop. The payments are yet to be released to the farmers as it takes 8-10 days after selling the crop in the grain market.

Year	Wheat Procurement in Punjab	Wheat Procurement All India
2013-14	10.82	25.79
2014-15	11.64	28.02
2015-16	10.34	28.08
2016-17	11.00	30.0
* Estimated target; Procurement in million tonnes; source: Procurement agencies in Punjab

The Ministry of Food and Consumer Affairs Government of India has an estimated target of 11 million tonnes of wheat procurement from Punjab against the actual procurement of 10.34 million tonnes of wheat in the KMS 2015.

Belying the apprehensions of crop damage during the hailstorm and rain in the month of March and loss of 5-7 per cent of grain during this season, the speedy arrivals in large volumes indicate higher procurement of wheat from Punjab. The average yield of wheat per acre in the state is expected to be 22 quintal per acre that is slightly higher than the last season.

A senior official in Food Corporation of India, the apex food procurement agency informed that going by the current trend, the final procurement can be a few thousand million tonnes higher than the target.

Wheat is procured on minimum support price from the farmers and the price for current season has been fixed at Rs 1,525 per quintal. This was revised by Rs 75 per quintal over the last year.