India’s wheat procurement, which began on April 1 with a lead of 6 lakh tonnes (lt) due to an early start of the purchase in March, was up 92.3 per cent at 83.58 lt as of April 16 against 43.46 lt a year ago. The government is hopeful of purchasing wheat higher than the past four years after a reduced yield in the 2021-22 crop year threatened India’s self sufficiency in the key winter cereal.
According to latest data compiled by the Food Corporation of India (FCI), the procurement of wheat in Madhya Pradesh, where the state government has announced a bonus of Rs 175/quintal over and above the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 2,425/quintal, is 40.08 lt so far this year. Procurement in the central State began on March 15. In the year-ago period, the State bought 21.67 lt.
In Rajasthan, where the government last month relaxed the norms under the fair, average quality (FAQ) standards, the procurement was 4.8 lt against less than 96,209 tonnes a year ago. In Uttar Pradesh, the government bought 3.42 lt against 2.2 lt o and in Gujarat 1,920 tonnes against no purchase. The procurement season was advanced in the States to begin from March 15. There was hardly any purchase in these states year-ago, the sources said.
The Centre has to be more proactive in Uttar Pradesh and should request the State government to announce a bonus since MP and Rajasthan have already been implementing, a former senior official of the Food Ministry said earlier this month.
The procurement in Punjab, which is usually picks up only after Baisakhi, the harvest festival, was 5.29 lt against 74,144 tonnes a year ago. Similarly, Haryana has reported 67 per cent increase in procurement at 29.89 lt against 17.86 lt. Harvesting is yet to pick up in Bihar, where the procurement is less than 7,000 tonnes, though up from 2,068 tonnes a year ago.
“We are expecting to cross 266 lt by the first week of May, and the total purchases may be around 280-290 lt this year, looking at the current trend of arrival,” a senior official said. However, he did not rule out the possibility of exceeding the targeted procurement due to reports of a higher yield coming from most of the states.
Based on the feedback of the State governments, the Centre has fixed a target to procure 312.7 lt of wheat this year, which includes 124 lt from Punjab, 75 lt from Haryana, 60 lt from Madhya Pradesh, 30 lt from Uttar Pradesh, 20 lt from Rajasthan, 2 lt from Bihar and 1 lt from Gujarat.
After the Centre procured record 433.4 lt of wheat in 2021-22, the procurement has been continuously missing the target in last three years as government could buy 187.9 lt in 2022-23 (target 444 lt), 261.97 lt in 2023-24 (target 341.5 lt) and 266.05 lt in 2024-25 (target 373 lt).
Sources also said the government has instructed States to buy all the grains coming to the procurement centres. As a result, there is 100 per cent procurement across the States.
However, farmer leader Rampal Jat of Kisan Mahapanchayat, said distress sales are still taking place and farmers are forced to sell at below the minimum support price (MSP) at some places. He attributed it to the lower participation of private traders and alleged that government authorities at some places have put restrictions on the purchase and movement of wheat at local levels.
On March 20, the Centre relaxed the quality norm of wheat in Rajasthan after the State government requested it to ensure a smooth procurement. Under the relaxed norms, the limit of shrivelled and broken grains will be upto 20 per cent, against the existing limit of 6 per cent, but, both Damaged and Slightly damaged grain altogether shall not exceed 6 per cent. The lustre loss in wheat has been relaxed upto 10 per cent.
The Agriculture Ministry has estimated wheat production to exceed the target of 115 million tonnes during 2024-25 crop year (July-June).
Published on April 17, 2025
India’s wheat procurement, which began on April 1 with a lead of 6 lakh tonnes (lt) due to an early start of the purchase in March, was up 92.3 per cent at 83.58 lt as of April 16 against 43.46 lt a year ago. The government is hopeful of purchasing wheat higher than the past four years after a reduced yield in the 2021-22 crop year threatened India’s self sufficiency in the key winter cereal.
According to latest data compiled by the Food Corporation of India (FCI), the procurement of wheat in Madhya Pradesh, where the state government has announced a bonus of Rs 175/quintal over and above the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 2,425/quintal, is 40.08 lt so far this year. Procurement in the central State began on March 15. In the year-ago period, the State bought 21.67 lt.
In Rajasthan, where the government last month relaxed the norms under the fair, average quality (FAQ) standards, the procurement was 4.8 lt against less than 96,209 tonnes a year ago. In Uttar Pradesh, the government bought 3.42 lt against 2.2 lt o and in Gujarat 1,920 tonnes against no purchase. The procurement season was advanced in the States to begin from March 15. There was hardly any purchase in these states year-ago, the sources said.
The Centre has to be more proactive in Uttar Pradesh and should request the State government to announce a bonus since MP and Rajasthan have already been implementing, a former senior official of the Food Ministry said earlier this month.
The procurement in Punjab, which is usually picks up only after Baisakhi, the harvest festival, was 5.29 lt against 74,144 tonnes a year ago. Similarly, Haryana has reported 67 per cent increase in procurement at 29.89 lt against 17.86 lt. Harvesting is yet to pick up in Bihar, where the procurement is less than 7,000 tonnes, though up from 2,068 tonnes a year ago.
“We are expecting to cross 266 lt by the first week of May, and the total purchases may be around 280-290 lt this year, looking at the current trend of arrival,” a senior official said. However, he did not rule out the possibility of exceeding the targeted procurement due to reports of a higher yield coming from most of the states.
Based on the feedback of the State governments, the Centre has fixed a target to procure 312.7 lt of wheat this year, which includes 124 lt from Punjab, 75 lt from Haryana, 60 lt from Madhya Pradesh, 30 lt from Uttar Pradesh, 20 lt from Rajasthan, 2 lt from Bihar and 1 lt from Gujarat.
After the Centre procured record 433.4 lt of wheat in 2021-22, the procurement has been continuously missing the target in last three years as government could buy 187.9 lt in 2022-23 (target 444 lt), 261.97 lt in 2023-24 (target 341.5 lt) and 266.05 lt in 2024-25 (target 373 lt).
Sources also said the government has instructed States to buy all the grains coming to the procurement centres. As a result, there is 100 per cent procurement across the States.
However, farmer leader Rampal Jat of Kisan Mahapanchayat, said distress sales are still taking place and farmers are forced to sell at below the minimum support price (MSP) at some places. He attributed it to the lower participation of private traders and alleged that government authorities at some places have put restrictions on the purchase and movement of wheat at local levels.
On March 20, the Centre relaxed the quality norm of wheat in Rajasthan after the State government requested it to ensure a smooth procurement. Under the relaxed norms, the limit of shrivelled and broken grains will be upto 20 per cent, against the existing limit of 6 per cent, but, both Damaged and Slightly damaged grain altogether shall not exceed 6 per cent. The lustre loss in wheat has been relaxed upto 10 per cent.
The Agriculture Ministry has estimated wheat production to exceed the target of 115 million tonnes during 2024-25 crop year (July-June).
Published on April 17, 2025
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It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout. The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using ‘Content here, content here’, making it look like readable English. Many desktop publishing packages and web page editors now use Lorem Ipsum as their default model text, and a search for ‘lorem ipsum’ will uncover many web sites still in their infancy.
The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using ‘Content here, content here’, making
The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using ‘Content here, content here’, making it look like readable English. Many desktop publishing packages and web page editors now use Lorem Ipsum as their default model text, and a search for ‘lorem ipsum’ will uncover many web sites still in their infancy.
It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout. The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution
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