Govt wheat procurement down 1 per cent

The Centre's wheat procurement is steadily catching up with last year's purchases, with the government having bought 9.06 million tonnes grain from farmers till date compared with 9.14 million tonnes in the year ago period.

Wheat procurement is lagging behind last year's levels despite a projected increase in output, a senior government official said today. India is likely to produce around 73.7 million tonnes of the food grain in 2007 compared with 69.4 million tonnes produced last year.

The official said procurement is lower as farmers are hoarding wheat, anticipating a further rise in its prices. He said government, however, has been procuring bulk of the market arrivals. Arrivals across the country, as of today, stood at 11.69 million tonnes compared with 12.74 million tonnes a year ago. The official also said procurement has started increasing since the government had floated import tenders and ruled out an increase in the minimum support price or an incentive bonus. 
 

LAGGING BEHIND State-wise wheat procurement (in tonnes) till date compared with the year ago data
State	2,007	2006	Change*
Punjab	5,992,410	6,590,919	-14.30
Haryana	2,840,792	2,223,476	27.90
Uttar Pradesh	66,250	31,898	107.60
Madhya Pradesh	3,688	20	18340.00
Rajasthan	156,064	1,507	6125.10
Total*	9,061,308	9,146,151	-0.80
*Total may not tally as all the states are not included *Change in percentage terms

Procurement this year will easily surpass last year's levels as government will buy the commodity till June instead of ending the process by May, the official said.

The government is buying wheat at Rs 850 per 100 kg this year, inclusive of Rs 100-per 100 kg bonus.

The Centre has set a procurement target of 15 million tonnes this year compared with 9.2 million tonnes bought last year. The government, meanwhile, in preparation for a possible shortfall in total procurement has floated a 1 million tonnes import tender.

Last week, Minister of State for Food and Public Distribution Akhilesh Prasad Singh had the government's total wheat procurement in 2007 is seen a little over 10 million tonnes.

Singh also said India may need to import 4-5 million tonnes of the food grain to meet its domestic requirement.