June 6, 2011

 

Indian wheat procurement touches new record

 

 

Wheat procurement in India has broken a record, with 26.43 million tonnes of wheat purchased so far on the back of record production of the rabi crop, registering an increase of 18%.

 

The Food Corporation of India (FCI) had procured 22.41 million tonnes in the year-ago period.

 

Wheat procurement, which generally starts from April and continues till June, has been higher during the current marketing season of 2011-12, due to record output of 84.27 million tonnes.

 

This year, the procurement so far has surpassed the previous record of 25.38 million tonnes during the 2009-10 marketing year (April-March) and last year's total purchase of 22.51 million tonnes.

 

FCI, the nodal agency for procurement and distribution of food grains, has achieved the procurement target of 26.2 million tonnes set for 2011-12 marketing year.

 

The record output of wheat led to the increase in arrival of crops in the mandis across the country by 19%, to nearly 30 million tonnes till June 3, in the current marketing year as against 25.21 million tonnes in the year-ago period.

 

According to government data, Punjab - which contributes maximum to the government's buffer stock - has so far procured 10.92 million tonnes, followed by Haryana at 6.87 million tonnes.

 

Wheat procurement by Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan stood at 4.81 million tonnes, 2.42 million tonnes, and 1.11 million tonnes, respectively.

 

The government is paying INR1,170 (US$26.16) per quintal to farmers this season, including a bonus of INR50 (US$1.12) per quintal.

 

Meanwhile, the rice procurement in the kharif marketing season 2010-11 (October-September) has gone up marginally to 28.39 million tonnes so far as compared to 28.05 million tonnes in the year-ago period.

 

The country's rice procurement during the year-ago period stood at 32.03 million tonnes.