April 26, 2011
 

Indian wheat procurement declines

 

 

Due to a postponement in crop harvesting in key producing states of Punjab and Haryana, India's wheat procurement has decreased by 35% so far this year to 114.75 lakh tonnes.

 

Food Corporation of India (FCI) had purchased 177 lakh tonnes of the staple food grain crop in the corresponding year-ago period, according to the latest FCI data.

 

Punjab, the largest contributor to the central pool last year, has so far bought only 47.10 lakh tonnes, as opposed to 90 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period.

 

Arrivals of wheat so far this year in Punjab stood at 47.17 lakh tonnes, as against 90.32 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period.

 

In Haryana, the second largest contributor to the centre's buffer stock last year, procurement and arrivals have so far remained low compared to last year.

However, the procurement of wheat is picking up in Haryana.

 

The government's purchases in Haryana stood at 42.14 lakh tonnes till Sunday (Apr 24) as against 58.22 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period.

 

Punjab and Haryana together procured 165 lakh tonnes of wheat last year, which was 73.53% of the government's total procurement of 225 lakh tonnes.

 

Besides delays in harvesting, the arrival of wheat in mandis (markets) of Haryana and Punjab has been less so far this year, as farmers are withholding their stocks in anticipation of a bonus.

 

In contrast, the government agencies in Gujarat have been able to buy more wheat this year compared to last year.

 

In Gujarat, procurement stood at 18,779 tonnes so far, as against 624 tonnes in the entire 2010-11 marketing year.

 

The centre has announced a bonus of INR50 (US$1.12) per quintal for wheat farmers over and above the minimum support price (MSP) of INR1,120 (US$25.12) per quintal.

 

The FCI has procured 21.68 lakh tonnes of wheat so far this year in Madhya Pradesh as against 23.04 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period even though the state government is paying INR100 (US$2.24) per quintal more to the farmers than the centre's minimum support price (MSP) of INR1,120 (US$25.12) per quintal.

 

The FCI is targeting the procurement of 26.2 million tonnes in 2011-12 as the wheat output is tipped to be a record 84.27 million tonnes in the 2010-11 crop year.