Wheat procurement reaches all-time high; up nearly 25pc so far

According to data compiled by the Food Corporation of India (FCI), the wheat procurement till yesterday was up by over 24 per cent at a record 29.22 million tonnes in 2012-13 marketing year (April- March) against 23.49 million tonnes in the year-ago period.

FCI, the nodal agency for procurement and distribution of foodgrains, and other state agencies procured a record 28.38 million tonnes in the 2011-12 marketing year. The bulk of procurement is undertaken between April and June.

Wheat production of India, the world's second largest producer, is estimated at a record 90.23 million tonnes in 2011-12 crop year (July-June) as against 86.87 million tonnes in the previous year.

On the back of bumper production estimates, the government has targeted wheat procurement at 31.8 million tonnes in 2012-13 marketing year.

But looking at the current trend, it seems that purchases would surpass the target by a good margin, raising concern over the storage capacity.

"The trouble of storage of foodgrains has occurred due to problem of plenty arising out of record production of foodgrains in 2011-12," Food Minister K V Thomas had said yesterday in Rajya Sabha while replying to a discussion on foodgrains management.

The minister had said the country has a total storage capacity for 63 million tonnes of foodgrains. He said an additional 15 million tonnes capacity would be added to it by 2013 through construction of godowns under PPP model.

At the end of the procurement season next month, wheat and rice stocks in the FCI godowns are expected to be higher than the present storage capacity.