Govt says wheat crop condition 'normal' so far; plans to procure 34.1 mt

Sources said that the target is flexible and will depend on the quantum of wheat that arrives in the mandis

The Centre on Thursday said the high-powered panel formed to monitor wheat crop has found that the condition of the crop in all the major-growing states was ‘normal’ so far.  

In a related development, the government has laid down a plan to procure around 34.1 million tonnes of wheat in the coming procurement season that will start from April, which will be significantly higher than the actual procu­rement of around 19 million tonnes in FY23. 

Sources said the target will depend on the quantum of wheat that arrives in the mandis.   

The Centre had planned to procure around 43.3 million tonnes of wheat in Fy-23 but the actual purchases were much less due to high prices in the domestic market.

Meanwhile, on the crop, the panel which comprises of senior officials from the department of agriculture, Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR), India Meteorological Department (IMD), State Agriculture Universities and others found that around 75 per cent of the area under the wheat crop in major growing states of Haryana and Punjab has been sown early which won’t be impacted by the spike in temperatures.

Also, in the north-western plains, which are the major wheat growing regions, around 50 per cent area is under terminal heat stress resistant varieties.

The panel which has been constituted to monitor the wheat crop in view of sudden rise in temperatures will visit farmers’ fields regularly and provide timely advisories to farmers wherever heat stress conditions occur.