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Saturday, May 24, 2008
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National

Wheat procurement a record

Gargi Parsai

Higher procurement attributed to higher MSP
Quantum jump in procurement from Bihar, Rajasthan

NEW DELHI: The government on Friday announced the highest wheat procurement since independence at 207.1 lakh tonnes, up from 99.71 procured during the corresponding period last year for the targeted Public Distribution System.

According to Food Corporation of India sources, the government will continue to procure wheat at Rs. 1,000 a quintal till the end of the season on June 15. Going by the arrivals at the FCI and other agencies, the government expects to procure up to 215 lakh tonnes by June 15. So far the FCI has procured over 80 per cent of the mandi arrivals.

The higher procurement is attributed to a higher minimum support price, as well as to multinationals and private trade buying a much lower quantum than in the previous two years. Also, some of the States which did not contribute to the central pool, in the previous years, sent substantial quantities this year. The highest procurement has been in Punjab at 98.43 lakh tonnes, followed by Haryana (52.01 lakh tonnes), Uttar Pradesh (22.9 lakh tonnes), Madhya Pradesh (18.7 lakh tonnes), Rajasthan (8.72 lakh tonnes), Bihar (2.07 lakh tonnes), and Gujarat (3.41 lakh tonnes).

There has been a quantum jump in the procurement from Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and Gujarat over last year. The Madhya Pradesh government has offered a bonus of Rs. 100 over and above the minimum support price of Rs. 1,000 a quintal given by the Centre.

The highest procurement so far was in 2001 (203.63 lakh tonnes) followed by 190.3 lakh tonnes in 2002-03 and 168.0 lakh tonnes in 2004-05.

Last year, government agencies could procure only 111.3 lakh tonnes against a target of 142 lakh tonnes. The most dismal performance in recent years was in 2006-07 when government agencies procured only 92.3 lakh tonnes, resulting in wheat import of about 73 lakh tonnes in the last two years.

Thanks to the record procurement, the price of wheat should moderate in the open market, the sources said. It was hovering between Rs. 12 and Rs. 13 a kg.

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