The Centre wIll procure 320 lakh tonnes (lt) of wheat during the rabi marketing season (starting April 1) 2018-19 — 10 lt lower than the previous season’s 330 lt, an official statement from the Food Ministry said on Thursday.
A decision on rabi procurement targets was taken at a meeting of State Food Secretaries, chaired by the Department of Food and Public Distribution Secretary Ravi Kant here.
The overall wheat procurement in the previous season was at 308 lt. The reduction in wheat procurement target is despite the government’s expectations of a bumper crop in 2017-18 (July-June).
The sowing of rabi crops this year is reported to be 4.27 per cent lower than last year. As per the Agriculture Ministry data, for the week ended February 9, wheat had been sown on 304.29 lakh hectares (lh) as compared to an acreage of 317.88 lh covered for the corresponding week last year.
The Centre will procure an estimated 119 lt of wheat from Punjab, 74 lt from Haryana, 67 lh from Madhya Pradesh, 40 lt from Uttar Pradesh, 16 lt from Rajasthan, 5 lt from Bihar and the rest from other States including Uttrakahand and Gujarat, the statement said.
Paddy procurement
The Centre has also decided to procure an estimated 55 lt paddy grown in rabi season of the kharif marketing season (KMS) 2017-18, which is 5 lt more than the previous rabi season.
Of the total 55 lt, 19 lt of paddy will be procured from Telangana, 18 lt from Andhra Pradesh, 7 lt from Odisha, 5 from Tamil Nadu, 4 lt from West Bengal and the rest from other States including Kerala, Assam and Maharashtra.
This is over and above the estimate of 375 lt set for kharif crop paddy for KMS 2017-18, the statement said.