Crime Today News
The Indian government has raised the wheat procurement target in Madhya Pradesh by 1 million tonnes (mt) to 7 mt this year in view of higher yield. Harvest has been completed across the central Indian State. The all-India target of wheat now stands revised at 32.27 mt as no change has been made for other States.
The all-India daily procurement is also more than 1 mt now, which shows that the agencies made good preparation to procure as much wheat as possible, said an official source.
According to sources, the daily arrival of wheat at procurement centres in Madhya Pradesh was more than 3,00,000 tonnes out of which the State bought nearly 2,50,000 tonnes on Monday. The backlog is getting cleared the next day. More than 15 lakh farmers have registered with the State government, which is a prerequisite to sell their produce at MSP.
Apart from Madhya Pradesh, harvesting of wheat crop has been completed in Rajasthan and Gujarat as of April 25. Among other growing states, the harvesting is over in 88 per cent of area in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, while farmers of Haryana have harvested in 92 per cent and in Punjab 80 per cent of sown areas.
Total wheat acreage in Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar and Gujarat in 2024-25 was 29.91 million hectares (mh), which is 92 per cent of the country’s total wheat acreage of 32.61 mh. Officials said that remaining 2.32 mh area in these States will be harvested by first week of May.
Punjab tops in buy
Latest data show that wheat procurement this year has reached 24.05 mt until Monday, up by 28 per cent from 18.83 mt year-ago.
In Punjab, it has surpassed all other States despite late start and has reached 9.52 mt as of April 28 this season against 8.52 mt in the year-ago period. Haryana has reported its procurement to have reached 6.37 mt against 5.99 mt a year ago. As usual, both these States are expected to contribute significantly to the Central Pool.
The Food Corporation of India (FCI) through state agencies in Madhya Pradesh has procured 6.39 mt of wheat so far this year, up 89 per cent from 3.39 mt in the year-ago period. Procurement in the State began from March 15. The State government has announced a bonus of ₹175/quintal over and above the minimum support price (MSP) of ₹2,425/quintal. The government had purchased 4.84 mt from MP in the entire season last year.
UP, a concern
Rajasthan, where the government has relaxed the quality norms under the fair, average quality (FAQ) standards, the procurement has reached 1.05 mt, as against less than 0.38 mt year-ago and the Centre may buy close to the target of 2 mt due to bonus, paid by state government.
But, Uttar Pradesh continues to be concern as the pace of procurement has not seen any major improvement and the purchases have reached nearly 0.7 mt, up 30 per cent from 0.54 mt year-ago. The government may not able to buy the targetted 3 mt in Uttar Pradesh, where the actual purchase was 0.93 mt in the entire season, which experts blame it on the policy of the state.
Unlike MP and Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh has not announced any bonus over the MSP as a result private traders are offering more than MSP, but less than procurement prices of the other two states.
The Agriculture Ministry estimates wheat production at record 115.43 mt during 2024-25 crop year (July-June), up from 113.29 mt in 2023-24.
Published on April 29, 2025
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