Govt’s grain-buying hits top gear amid lockdown

Dipak K Dash & Sidhartha | TNN | Updated: Apr 27, 2020, 10:28 IST

NEW DELHI: Amid the ongoing lockdown, nearly 90% of the wheat arriving in mandis over the first 10 days has been procured by government agencies, while the entire paddy crop in southern states has been purchased, as part of an attempt to ensure that farmers do not face hardship, while also replenishing stocks in Food Corporation of India silos.
The food stock, which is remains surplus by a long margin, has been depleted in the last few weeks as the government doubled the quota of grains given to the poor through the public distribution system due to Covid-19. As reported by TOI on April 15, states are targeting to procure 40 million tonnes during 2020-21 marketing year (April to March), compared to around 35 million tonnes last year.

Last year, up to April 24, procurement was estimated at 10.7 million tonnes, and purchases so far are nearly 60% of the year ago period although procurement was delayed by 15-20 days across states. Till Friday, 6.3 million tonnes of wheat has been procured with Punjab, MP, Haryana and UP taking the lead, government data accessed by TOI showed.
Till Friday, total arrivals were estimated at 6.9 million tonnes, lower than last year, due to the staggered procurement plan that states have devised due to the lockdown to ensure that there are no crowds in the grain markets.
While for the past few years, MP has been following the practice of sending SMS to farmers to bring their produce for selling, this time Punjab is also following the model.
Sources said traditionally the three main wheat producing states — Punjab, MP and Haryana — usually finish procurement of wheat by April end or maximum by first week of May, although June 30 is the deadline for rabi marketing season (RMS). But this year procurement may continue in these states till May-end or even till the first week of June.