April 18, 2007

India's government wheat purchases at 2.9 million tonnes

India's wheat purchases by the federal government from farmers as of April 17 are estimated at 2.9 million tonnes, down 35.5 percent, from 4.5 million tonnes a year earlier, a senior government official said Tuesday (Apr 17).

"Wheat market arrivals and procurement continues to be slow this year, it needs to be investigated whether private companies are directly procuring the grain from growers at the farm gate itself," the official told Dow Jones Newswires.

He said the federal government has impressed upon the states the need to be more aggressive in local purchases by establishing contact with farmers in their fields so as to minimise imports.

The procurement season began April 1. The marketing year for wheat runs from April to March.

In India, imports of wheat depend on the size of the government's local wheat purchases from farmers. Last year, a shortfall in local procurement led to wheat imports of 5.5 million tonnes by the government.