Government’s wheat procurement has increased by nearly 2% so far in 2015-16 marketing year as compared to wheat procured last year on the same date, , though quality of bulk of grains is affected due to hailstorms and unseasonal rains. The different state agencies and Food Corporation of India (FCI) have procured 26.47 million tonnes (MT) of wheat compared to 26.02 MT procured last year on the same date.
The Centre has fixed the wheat procurement target at 30.05 MT in 2015-16 marketing year (April-March) as against 28 MT bought by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) during last year. The arrival of wheat has been lower this season, as on date 30.55 MT has reached mandis across the country, compared to 32.94 MT in the year-ago period.
The state of Punjab continues to be the largest contributor to the food basket of the county with 9.85 MT of wheat procured this year. Madhya Pradesh has jumped to second position in wheat procurement with 7.15 MT, replacing Haryana which slipped to third position with 6.75 MT.