Wheat procurement up by 25%, may surpass last year's figure by weekend

NEW DELHI: The government procurement of wheat during the current Rabi Marketing Season (RMS) has increased by almost 25% compared to the corresponding period last year. The current trend of procurement indicates that the purchase of the winter crop is set to surpass the procurement of full RMS of last year by this weekend.
Data show that the wheat procurement touched 171 lakh tonnes as on Monday and during last year, the government entities had procured 188 lakh tonnes.
Officials said they are confident of the wheat procurement touching around 300 lakh tonnes by the end of the current marketing year, which will be enough to meet the statutory requirement for ensuring food security and also to keep some stock for market intervention if the need arises.
Meanwhile, the Centre has allowed the states, including Uttar Pradesh, to procure wheat through “panchayats” and they will get the commission Rs 27 per quintal, similar to the commission paid to arthias, societies and cooperatives. Sources said this will accelerate procurement as it will be easier for farmers to take their produce to the panchayat office in their villages rather than transporting them to designated procurement centres.
Some of the state governments on Monday had suggested to the ministry to take the services of panchayats and to pay them commission to “augment” the pace of procurement.
The food ministry has also allowed the Rajasthan government to procure wheat on non-DCP mode, which means the Food Corporation of India (FCI) directly or through state government agencies will procure wheat from the purchase centres. The state agencies will hand over the procured wheat to the FCI for storage or for transportation to the consuming states. In this case, FCI will pay the cost of procured wheat to the state agencies.