No immediate plan to import wheat: Pawar

 India had to import wheat in the last two years to augment its buffer stock and meet the requirement of the public distribution system. The government imported 1.8 million tonne of wheat in 2007 as it could procure only about 11 million tonne against the targeted 15 million tonne. In 2006, the country imported 5.5 million tonne as procurement level was very low at 9.2 million tonne."Efforts are on to be self-sufficient. Our approach is to improve production and productivity," Pawar said.

 Replying to a query whether government is considering a bonus over and above the minimum support price (MSP) of wheat, Pawar said the current MSP is enough to expect a good procurement from the domestic market. The minister noted that global prices of edible oils and wheat have come down substantially at present. He ruled out blanket ban on non-basmati rice export saying the import duty reduction from 70 per cent to nil would be enough to improve domestic availability.