Wheat procurement tops last year's level; Madhya Pradesh sees big dip

Wheat procurement for the central pool has surpassed last year's level for the first time this season. This comes on the back of robust contributions from the northern states of Punjab and Haryana, the government said on Friday.

In a statement, the government said 26.29 million tonnes (mt) of wheat has been procured for the Central pool which during the same period last year was 26.16 mt.

With arrivals thinning in major mandis, most experts said that procurement for the season might culminate at somewhere around 27-29 mt, which will be just marginally more than the 26.19 mt procured last year. This will be less than the FY25 procurement target of 30-32 mt. This would also mean that for the third year, India’s official wheat procurement for the Central pool to feed its poor will remain less than the target.

One of the major reasons for this dip has been farmers preferring to sell their produce to private buyers at higher price than to state purchasing agencies. A less than expected wheat stocks could stifle the government's hand to effectively intervene in the market when prices flare up. Another reason for the drop has been Madhya Pradesh’s fall in procurement. Against a target of 8 mt, just around 4.8 mt has been purchased.