April 26, 2007

India's local wheat purchases down 18 percent on-year at 6.76 million tonnes

Wheat purchases in 2007 by India's federal government from farmers are estimated at 6.76 million tonnes as of Wednesday (Apr 25), down 18 percent from 8.2 million tonnes a year earlier, a senior government official said.

"Wheat procurement continues to lag but still local prices are stable and this indicates that a large part of harvest has yet to arrive in the market," the official said.

The federal government is disappointed with the progress of purchases in the northern province of Uttar Pradesh, where only 12,000 tonnes has been purchased despite being the country's largest wheat producing state by volume, he said.

In India, wheat imports 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.

The government has already decided to import up to 3 million tonnes of wheat if needed, to augment local supplies.