Union food secretary Sudhanshu Pandey said the sharp decline in procurement, which is more than 50% of the original estimate of 44.4MTs, is due to huge buying by private players. Officials also said some farmers may be holding on to their produce with the anticipation of getting better prices in future.
Farmers said the decline in wheat production has been primarily due to the onset of summer season early this year and the heatwave. Pandey said private players buying wheat directly from farmers at better prices has largely benefited the farmers. Responding to a question on whether private players are taking large bulks of wheat to sell at higher prices later, he said, “If farmers are getting some benefit, consumers should also have to bear.”
On April 25, TOI had first reported that wheat procurement this year may not touch even 20MTs, much lower than the government’s original estimate of 44.4MTs.
At a press conference, Pandey asserted that there won’t be any concern for meeting the domestic demand of wheat for the public distribution system. He also ruled out the possibility of imposing any curbs on wheat exports as farmers are getting higher than the minimum support price for their produce.
On Wednesday, the food ministry amended its circular issued the day before on the revised allocation of wheat and rice to states under the PM Garib Kalyan Ann Yojna. On Tuesday, it had said the changes were made, “…in order to mitigate scarcity-like situations and to ensure availability of sufficient stocks as per stocking norms”. But on Wednesday it said the allocations were revised “to position rice stock for distribution of fortified rice, to ease the pressure on logistics and after consultation with states.”
