Govt procures 69 LMT wheat in current season

According to the Ministry, wheat procurement has commenced in nine states–Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan.

A maximum quantity of 32.16 LMT has been procured from Punjab, followed by Haryana (27.76 LMT) and Madhya Pradesh (8.98 LMT). So far, 2.56 lakh farmers in Punjab, 2.15 lakh in Haryana and 1.08 lakh in Madhya Pradesh have availed the MSP for their wheat crop.

The MSP of wheat for the RMS 2022-23 is Rs 2,015 per quintal.

Last year, the government had procured a record 433 LMT wheat. This year the total wheat procurement may be lower due to the rising overseas demand and a possible shortfall in the output due to sudden rise in temperature in March. The Centre has, however, pegged the wheat procurement to reach at 444 LMT this year.

As on April 1, 2022, wheat stock in the central pool stood at 189.8 LMT, which is almost 2.5 times of the buffer stock requirement of 74.60 LMT at the beginning of the new financial year.

There has been an increase in demand for Indian wheat in the overseas markets amid Russia-Ukraine conflict. India has set a target of 10 million tons of wheat export in 2022-23. According to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, India has exported a record 7 million tons of wheat in 2021-22, valued at $2.05 billion. Out of the total shipment around 50% of wheat was exported to Bangladesh in the last fiscal.

“Growth in wheat exports is driven mostly by the demand from countries such as Bangladesh, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Oman and Malaysia,” the Ministry said in a statement last week.