Wheat procurement has increased by 20 per cent so far this year at record 26.97 million tonnes helped by an all-time high production and a Rs 50 bonus offered by the government over and above the support price.
During 1st April- 10th June period of last year, procurement stood at 22.44 million tonnes (MT).
The government’s total purchase last year was 22.51 MT, according to the latest Food Ministry data.
Besides record production of 84.27 MT, the government’s decision to give a Rs 50 per quintal bonus on top of support price of Rs 1,120 per quintal contributed in bumper procurement this year.
The previous record for procurement was 25.38 MT during the 2009-10 marketing year (April-March).
According to data, wheat arrival in mandis rose by 21 per cent to nearly 30.73 MT till June 10 this year as against 25.49 MT in the year-ago period.
Punjab — which contributes maximum to the government’s buffer stock — has so far procured 10.94 MT, followed by Haryana at 6.88 MT.
Wheat procurement by Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan stood at 4.89 MT, 2.74 MT and 1.18 MT, respectively.
Meanwhile, the rice procurement in the kharif marketing season 2010-11 (October-September) has gone up by 5 per cent to 30.25 MT so far as compared to 28.71 MT in the year-ago period.
The country’s rice procurement during the year-ago period stood at 32.03 MT.
