Wheat procurement from Punjab expected to remain below 100 lakh MT
PremiumWheat procurement from the state for the central pool is expected to be between 90-100 lakh metric tonne, the officials said
Government wheat procurement from Punjab is set to miss the target of 132 lakh metric tonne, procurement officials said on Monday. This comes on the back of rising export and domestic market demand, fuelled by the Russia-Ukraine war, and lower crop yields due to the abnormal spike in temperatures from mid-March.
Wheat procurement from the state for the central pool is expected to be between 90-100 lakh metric tonne, the officials said. Earlier, the government had set a target of 132 lakh metric tonne of wheat purchase before the start of the procurement of crop from April.
The government agencies, including the Food Corporation of India, had bought 83.60 lakh MT of wheat in the current rabi marketing season (April-June) as of Sunday evening, the officials added. A total of 88.77 lakh MT of wheat arrived in the grain markets in the current rabi marketing season, the officials added.
Going by the daily market arrivals, which have clearly slowed down, total procurement may not even reach 100 lakh MT this time, some officials said.
Wheat output in Punjab, known as the food bowl of the country, is expected to be lower this season because of the adverse impact of the early onset of the summer followed by rise in temperatures, agriculture experts said.
Punjab agriculture department expects an average drop of five quintals per hectare in the wheat yield.
The state had witnessed 48.68 quintals per hectare as wheat yield last year. Punjab's overall wheat output last year was around 171 lakh metric tonne.
Government wheat purchases from Punjab — which is also the largest contributor to the Central pool — hit a record 132.14 lakh MT in the 2021 season. The last time that procurement fell below 100 lakh MT was back in 2007 and 2006, when these totaled 70.99 lakh MT and 69.07 lakh MT respectively.
Farmers' outfits have been demanding a bonus of ₹500 per quintal for the drop in the wheat yield.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday had urged the Centre to relax norms for shrivelled grains in the purchase of wheat from the state without imposing any value cut.
Amid rise in demand for the crop in the international market because of the Russia-Ukraine war, purchase of wheat by private traders here has reached 4.47 lakh MT, which is also the highest in the last eight years.