Govt sets wheat procurement target at 30 MT for 2025-26 rabi season

The government has set a conservative wheat procurement target of 30 million tonnes for the 2025-26 rabi marketing season, sources said.

The lower procurement target comes despite the Agriculture Ministry aiming for a record wheat production of 115 million tonnes in the 2024-25 crop year (July-June).

For the 2025-26 rabi marketing season starting April, the minimum support price for wheat has been fixed at Rs 2,425 per quintal.

The procurement target was set following discussions with state food secretaries, the sources added.

The Food Corporation of India (FCI) and state agencies conduct wheat procurement to ensure farmers receive minimum support prices and to meet welfare scheme requirements.

In 2024-25, government wheat procurement reached 26.6 million tonnes against a target of 30-32 million tonnes. While this exceeded the 26.2 million tonnes procured in 2023-24, it fell short of that year's 34.15 million tonne target.

Wheat procurement in 2022-23 was just 18.8 million tonnes, significantly below the target of 44.4 million tonnes.

Wheat sowing is nearly complete in many states, covering 31.9 million hectares so far, with current crop conditions reported as favourable.