Govt procures 55.17 lac tons of wheat so far this year

New Delhi: The Centre has purchased 55.17 lakh tonnes of wheat from farmers in the ongoing 2019-20 marketing year so far, a senior Food Ministry official said on Wednesday.

Haryana and Madhya Pradesh have contributed the most to wheat procurement so far, the official said.

The Centre has set the wheat procurement target at 357 lakh tonnes for the 2019-20 marketing year (April-March) on hopes of a record 1,000 lakh tonne production this year.

State-run Food Corporation of India (FCI) along with state government agencies buy wheat at the minimum support price to meet the demand of welfare schemes. The government has fixed the wheat MSP at Rs 1,840 per quintal, up from Rs 1,735 a year earlier.

“The wheat procurement has just begun. So far, 55.17 lakh tonnes of wheat grain has been purchased,” the official said.

Around 28.54 lakh tonnes of wheat has been purchased in Haryana and 18.89 lakh tonnes in Madhya Pradesh so far in the current marketing year.

About 2.90 lakh tonnes of wheat has been procured in Punjab, 2.78 lakh tonnes from Uttar Pradesh and 1.97 lakh tonnes of the grain from Rajasthan in the said period.

The wheat procurement has started in Gujarat and is likely to pick up pace in the coming weeks, the official added.

Last year, the government had procured 358 lakh tonnes, surpassing the target of 320 lakh tonne. Wheat procurement normally starts from April.