Government today said that the procurement of wheat from farmers has touched an all-time record to 382 Lakh tonnes. The earlier record was 381.48 lakh tonnes, achieved during 2012-13.

Consumers Affairs, Food and public distribution Ministry said that the commencement of procurement was delayed by a fortnight due to the first lockdown and was kicked off only from 15th April in most of the wheat surplus states.

The Ministry said, extraordinary efforts have been made by state governments and all government procuring agencies led by Food Corporation of India to ensure that wheat is procured from farmers without any delay and in a safe manner.

The number of purchase centers was increased from over 14 thousand to around 22 thousand this year by opening procurement centers in all possible locations, in addition to traditional mandis. This has helped to reduce farmers’ footfall in mandis and ensured proper social distancing.

The Ministry said, this year Madhya Pradesh became the largest contributor to Central pool with 129 lakh tonnes wheat, surpassing Punjab which procured 127 lakh tonnes. Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan also made significant contributions to the national procurement of wheat.

42 Lakh farmers have been benefited from all over the country and a total of about 73 thousand 500 crore rupees has been paid to them towards Minimum Support Price for wheat.