NEW DELHI: A day after imposing strict export controls, the Centre on Sunday extended wheat procurement in six states, including Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, by up to three weeks with the exercise now targeted to end on May 31.
The wheat procurement was scheduled to end on May 10 in Rajasthan and on May 15 in UP, MP, Bihar, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. The food ministry said the Food Corporation of India (FCI) will continue with wheat procurement for the central pool. The move – seen as a last minute mop up exercise to ensure that farmers are not saddled with stocks that they had intended to sell in the open market – is unlikely to result in a dramatic rise in the government’s wheat procurement figure, which is currently pegged at around 180 lakh tonnes. “We can expect some quantity reaching mandis in UP and MP,” said a source.
In another development, the government also allowed FCI to procure shrivelled wheat in Punjab and Haryana for central pool by relaxing the norms, known as fair and average quality. FCI will now procure shrivelled and broken grains up to 18% without any cut to minimum support price of Rs 2,015 per quintal. “This decision will reduce the hardship of farmers and avoid distress sale of wheat,” the food ministry said. The government had included the shrivelled wheat in the overall procurement figures.
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