Wheat procurement swells to record 37.31 mn tonnes

Procurement this season has already surpassed govt's target of 32 million tonnes

Record wheat production in the country has given a boost to government's procurement of the key staple as it rose by 35% to an all time high of 37.31 million tonnes in the current marketing season so far.

The government had purchased 27.55 million tonnes of wheat in the 2011-12 wheat marketing season (April-March).

The procurement of wheat in this season has already surpassed the government's target of 32 million tonnes.
 
As per official data, wheat procurement as on June 25 was 37.19 million tonnes and the arrivals stood at 39.58 million tonnes.

Punjab and Haryana have procured nearly 12.82 million tonnes and 8.66 million tonnes of wheat, respectively, in the current season.

Wheat purchase in Madhya Pradesh stood at 8.49 million tonnes, while in Uttar Pradesh it was 4.64 million tonnes.

Wheat production in India, the world's second-largest producer, is estimated at a record 90.23 million tonnes in the 2011-12 crop year (July-June). The minimum support price of wheat stands at Rs 1,285 per quintal.

A record production of foodgrains in the last two consecutive years has led to storage problem.

Food Minister K V Thomas last week said that about 6.6 MT of wheat kept in the open and in an unscientific way, mainly in Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, run a high risk of damage during the monsoon.

Of the 50 million tonnes of wheat held by government, 27 million tonnes is kept in the open, of which 6.6 million tonnes is lying in an unscientific way, he said.