Wheat procurement by the government in the 2015-16 marketing season has surpassed last year’s level of 28 million tonnes (MT). Food Corporation of India (FCI), the government agencies for procurement, had set the wheat procurement target of 30 MT for this season. Wheat procurement begins from April. The states of Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana have contributed maximum to the government’s central pool.
As on July 13 this year, 10.34 MT of wheat was purchased in Punjab, 7.30 MT in Madhya Pradesh and 6.77 MT in Haryana. The FCI purchased 2.26 MT of wheat in Uttar Pradesh, 1.3 MT in Rajasthan, 73,135 tonnes in Gujarat, 10,864 tonnes in Chandigarh, 4,085 tonnes in Uttarakhand and 1,787 tonnes in Delhi in the said period.
The wheat output was pegged lower at 90.78 MT for 2014-15 crop year (July-June), as per the government’s third advance estimate, as against the record 95.85 MT last year.