'Less wheat obtained this year won't impact public distribution'

The food ministry estimates wheat procurement in the crop marketing season beginning April 2013 to be 28-30 million tonnes (mt), 8-10 million tonnes less than last year's procurement, owing to brisk purchases by private traders.

Just 24.99 mt of wheat has been procured from farmers, with the procurement season in major states such as Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh nearly over. During the corresponding period last year, central agencies had procured 33.55 mt.

"We are hopeful we will manage to procure 28-30 mt of wheat from farmers, which is less than last year. This means our efforts to encourage private traders by not accepting their demand to lower the price of wheat sold through the open market scheme has borne fruit," Food Minister K V Thomas told reporters.

He added the lower wheat procurement wouldn't have any impact on the Public Distribution System or any other government programme, including the Food Security Bill, as the Centre had ample stocks in its warehouses. "Usually, in a year, FCI (Food Corporation of India) procures about 60 mt of foodgrains on an average. After the food Bill is implemented, this would rise to 62 mt. Therefore, the incremental rise is only about two mt. This can be easily managed, even if procurement falls in a season," Thomas said.

As on May 1, the government's foodgrain stocks stood at 77.55 mt, against a requirement of 21.2 mt. Stocks of wheat are estimated at 37.24 mt, against a requirement of seven mt, while those of rice are estimated at 34.72 mt, against a requirement of 14.2 mt.

On lowering the minimum export price of wheat from $300 a tonne, Thomas said a group of ministers would decide on the issue at its next meeting. "We are not in a hurry to export. Private trade should not survive on our subsidy," he said.

Yesterday, wheat arrivals across the country touched 28.54 mt, while procurement by government agencies stood at 24.96 mt. Though the government claims wheat procurement by state agencies has fallen because of heavy buying by private traders, some experts feel lower-than-estimated production in 2012-13, as well as stock holding by farmers have contributed to the decline. Leading traders, experts and economists say India's wheat production in the 2012-13 crop marketing year isn't expected to be anywhere close to the third advanced estimate of 93.62 mt. In all probability, it would be about 90 mt, as a sudden rise in temperatures in Punjab and Haryana in March and unseasonal rains in Madhya Pradesh in February had reduced the output. Multinational wheat trading companies operating in India have already revised their production numbers for 2012-13 to 86-87 mt, seven to eight mt lower than the previous official estimate.