"Food situation is improving everyday. According to the government's estimate, production of rice and wheat is more than the amount of consumption due to bumper harvest. Rice and wheat production is estimated at 95.68 million tonnes and 76.78 million tonnes, respectively."
According to the data with Food Corporation of India, the procurement of wheat till date is 13.48 million tonnes, up over 73 per cent over the corresponding purchase of 7.77 million tonnes last year. Last year's total wheat procurement stood at 11.1 million tonnes. "This year, we have set a target of procuring 15 million tonnes of wheat", said Chidambaram. Wheat has a weight of 1.38 per cent in the wholesale price index (WPI).
Rice procurement so far has been 22.9, up 8.53 per cent from the corresponding purchase of 21.1 million tonnes last year. Rice procurement in the previous year stood at 25 million tonnes. The target for this year is 27 million tonnes. The commodity has a weight of 2.45 per cent in the WPI.
However, the Finance Minister quickly reminded the House that to achieve the targets, al the states should show better performance in procuring food grains. "If the states show better procurement, then we will b able to send more food grains to the Public Distribution System", he added