The government’s wheat procurement has gone up by 13.74% to 119 lakh tonnes (LT) so far in the 2017-18 marketing year. The procurement commenced early this year, from March 15, in some states like Madhya Pradesh. The bulk of wheat procurement is done in the first three months though wheat marketing year runs from April to March. The government agencies Food Corporation of India (FCI) as well as state agencies undertake procurement operation at the Minimum Support Price (MSP).
The procurement of wheat in Haryana has increased to 47.16 LT so far this year, as against 44.56 LT in the year-ago period. The procurement in Punjab has gone up to 37.42 LT from 30.81 LT, while in Madhya Pradesh it rose to 30.55 LT from 28.29 LT. About 2.31 LT of wheat has been purchased from Rajasthan, 1.56 LT from Uttar Pradesh and 2,000 tonnes from Gujarat.
Wheat production target is kept at a record 96.50 million tonnes for 2016-17 crop year, much higher than the actual output of 93.50 million tonnes last year.