Wheat production may touch new record of 114 million tonnes in ongoing 2023-24 crop year

04 Jan 2024 Evaluate

Food Corporation of India (FCI) Chairman and Managing Director Ashok K Meena has said that wheat production is expected to touch a new record of 114 million tonnes in the ongoing 2023-24 crop year (July-June) on higher coverage and provided weather conditions remain normal. The last leg of sowing of wheat, the main rabi (winter) crop, is underway and will continue till next week. Till last week, wheat was planted in 320.54 lakh hectares. Wheat production stood at a record 110.55 million tonnes in the 2022-23 crop year (July-June), compared to 107.7 million tonnes achieved in the previous year. 

He said area sown to wheat crop is also showing an increase compared to the last year. There was a deficit of one per cent in some states but that will also be made up in the first week of January. He noted ‘If that is the level of production, we are very confident that we will be able to procure more than our requirement and also additional stocks needed for the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) for next year’.

Last year, the FCI’s wheat procurement stood at 26.2 million tonnes, higher than the annual buffer requirement of 18.4 million tonnes. This year’s wheat crop will be ready for harvest from April onwards. FCI is the central nodal agency that buys rice and wheat to ensure MSP to the farmers and distributes the same for free to 81 crore poor via ration shops. It also uses surplus grain via OMSS to boost domestic availability and check prices.

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