Expecting price rise, Punjab farmers hold on to wheat stocks

By Gurpreet Singh Nibber

Anticipating increase in wheat prices, farmers are holding on to wheat stocks more than their requirement for sowing in the upcoming season and for their personal use.

Due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, the global wheat supplies have been hit leading to stress on Indian markets. Also, country’s buffer stocks are dwindling, said officials familiar with the matter.

This year, the government is offering a minimum support price (MSP) of ₹2,275 per quintal for wheat. Agricultural experts say wheat prices in the open market are expected to touch ₹2,800 per quintal. In the previous (2023) rabi season, the government fixed the MSP at ₹2,125 per quintal but the prices in the open market touched ₹2,600 per quintal.

“We expect wheat prices to go up by ₹400-500 per quintal more than the MSP in the later part of the year,” said an official of the Punjab food and civil supplies department.

Punjab Agricultural University vice-chancellor SS Gosal said: “Farmers are aware of the impact on wheat prices in the backdrop of Iran-Israel conflict and Ukraine-Russia war. So, they are holding the produce,” adds Gosal.

Due to global wheat crisis, India had planned to export 20 lakh tonnes last year which led to price rise. Though the Centre withdrew the proposal at the last moment, it impacted the prices, say officials.

Nek Singh Khokh, a farmer from a village near Nabha, said those having big landing holdings in his village are not taking the entire stocks to the mandis for sale. “Many farmers who grew wheat on more than 30 acres are keeping a fair amount of wheat stocks with them,” said Khokh, adding that last year also, farmers sold wheat in winters when price shot up.

The state agriculture department has predicted a bumper crop as the crop-cutting experiment showed an increase of 3 quintals per acre —- from an average yield of 19 quintals to 22 quintals. The department had earlier predicted wheat output of 162 lakh tonnes of which 132 lakh tonnes is expected to arrive in the mandis for procurement.

So far, 99 lakh tonnes of freshly harvested crop has arrived in the mandis and procurement centres of the state.

Balbir Singh Rajewal, who heads a faction of farm body BKU, said there is an increase in yield by at least 10% and farmers are keeping the same quantity with themselves to be sold in the open market at a later stage.

This article has been republished from The Hindustan Times.