Wheat procurement down 3.5% so far at 21.89 mn tons

Wheat procurement, which started in April this year, has declined by 3.5 per cent to 21.89 million tonnes, despite record production, according to the government data.

Wheat procurement had stood at 22.68 million tonnes in the year-ago period.

The government expects to procure 24.5-25 million tonnes of wheat in 2010-11 marketing year (April-March) as against a record 25.4 million tonnes last year, Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar had said earlier this month. However, states have set a target to procure 26.2 million tonnes.

Wheat procurement, which starts in April and continues till June, is down in all major states barring Madhya Pradesh.

According to Food Corporation of India (FCI) data, Punjab has contributed the maximum quantity at 1.01 million tonnes of wheat to the central pool so far this marketing year. However, it has purchased five per cent less against 1.06 million tonnes in the same period last year.

FCI has procured 6.32 million tonnes from Haryana so far this year, eight per cent lower than 6.88 million tonnes purchased last year.

Wheat procurement from Madhya Pradesh, however, continues to remain over two-fold at 3.31 million tonnes, compared to 1.57 million tonnes a year ago.

FCI and other state agencies have procured 1.43 million tonnes of wheat from Uttar Pradesh so far this year against 2.36 million tonnes in the corresponding period last year.

The Centre procures foodgrains at a minimum support price (MSP) so as to protect farmers from market fluctuations. The MSP for wheat has been fixed at Rs 1,100 per quintal for the 2010-11 marketing season.

India's wheat production has been pegged at record 80.98 million tonnes for 2009-10 as per the third advance estimates, marginally higher than the previous year's 80.68 million tonnes.