Government to buy 50L tonnes of wheat from UP, Rajasthan, Bihar this yr

Robust wheat procurement during this year riding on a good harvest may put more ‘rotis’ on the plates of beneficiaries covered under free foodgrain scheme—PM Garib Kalyan Ann Yojna (PMGKAY). Govt would review the mix of rice and wheat allocated to states for distribution to the 80 crore poor under the scheme depending on the procurement this year, which is estimated to be at least 310 lakh tonne.
In response to questions on whether the ongoing election would impact wheat procurement, Union food secretary Sanjeev Chopra said thay are confident of achieving the target. On the possibility of more wheat allocation to states for PMGKAY, he said the increase in procurement of the winter crop this year—including from non-traditional states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar—would help govt to restore allocation of the foodgrain under the food security scheme. Govt has estimated procurement of at least 50 lakh tonne wheat from these states, an over seven-fold increase from last year.

Govt had reduced wheat allocation and had increased the share of rice in May 2022 to avoid any scarcity-like situation amid sharp decline in wheat procurement. The overall annual wheat allocation for the food security scheme and other welfare programmes was reduced to 184 lakh tonne from 230 lakh tonne, which has been continuing till date.
Officials said the crop this year looks good and the pace of wheat procurement will gather momentum in the next two weeks. So far, 6 lakh tonne have been procured compared to 3.5 lakh tonne for the corresponding period last year. While wheat procurement at minimum support price (MSP) is normally undertaken by FCI and state agencies, this time govt cooperatives Nafed and NCCF have also been roped in with a procurement target of 5 lakh tonne each.
“UP, Bihar, and Rajasthan have been contributing much less to the central pool than they could have. We have taken several steps to increase procurement from these states,” Chopra said. These include starting procurement early, registration of farmers, increasing the number of procurement centres, aggressive targeting of production hotspots and drying facilities have been provided for early harvested crops. This is also being seen as a move to diversify procurement of the foodgrain beyond Punjab, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh.

Govt has also opened more procurement centres targeting production hotspots, set up mobile procurement centers, and decided to leverage self help groups, panchayats, Farmer Producer Organisations, he said.

This article has been republished from The Times of India.