The food ministry has selected 59 crucial districts across three states to strengthen MSP procurement operations. More farmers have registered for the wheat procurement drive this season, totaling over 0.36 million. The government’s wheat procurement push began last month to support inventories that had fallen to a 16-year low.
Government agencies have acquired 0.6 MT of wheat, mainly from Madhya Pradesh. Farmer procurement has begun in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana. The government aims to purchase 31 MT of wheat to increase stocks and sell them to bulk customers.
Wheat stocks with the FCI fell to 7.57 MT due to poor procurement during the last two years. Madhya Pradesh plans to purchase 8.2 MT of grain in the 2024-25 rabi marketing season.
In 2023-24, Punjab and Haryana set targets of 13 MT and 5 MT for wheat purchases. After a record-breaking procurement season in 2021-22, government purchases hit a low of 18.8 MT in 2022-23, but rose to 26.2 MT in the rabi season of 2023-24. Due to FCI’s dumping of 9.6 MT of wheat, wheat retail inflation decreased to 2% in February from 12% in July 2023.
The government has set a record of 114 MT of wheat production for the 2023-24 crop year, exceeding the projected 110.5 MT for 2022-23.
