Wheat procurement surpasses last year’s total as foodgrain stock with FCI touches 600 lakh tonne

By Dipak K Dash

As this year’s wheat procurement by govt agencies touched 263.3 lakh tonne on Thursday, surpassing last year’s total quantity purchased, the combined stock of wheat and rice with the Food Corporation of India (FCI) is now around 600 lakh tonne. This is more than enough to meet the free foodgrain scheme for 80 crore poor under PM Garib Kalyan Ann Yojna (PMGKAY) and other welfare schemes for the entire year and also for market intervention to check any price increase of the key cereals.
The FCI’s wheat purchase data show that two major wheat producing states — Punjab and Haryana — have recorded higher procurement till Thursday compared to the corresponding period last year. But purchases in Madhya Pradesh are around 32% less despite the bonus offered to farmers by the state govt. Lower procurement in MP has pulled down the overall wheat purchase target of 300-310 lakh tonne for this year.
In an official release, the food ministry said over 22.3 lakh farmers have benefited during the current procurement season and govt has paid Rs 59,715 crore to farmers as MSP. Sources said they are expecting arrival of some more wheat in mandis and the final procurement figure may be around 270 lakh tonne.
Sources said the current stock of wheat with FCI is around 287 lakh tonne, excluding another 16 lakh tonne yet to be brought to godowns from mandis.

For the remaining 10 months of the current financial year, govt requires around 180 lakh tonne for PMGKAY and other welfare schemes. As per the stocking norms, FCI needs to have at least 74.6 lakh tonne of stock on April 1, 2025. “So, even after meeting the statutory requirement and maintaining minimum stock, there will be a surplus of over 40 lakh tonne. Govt can go for open market sale of some of this stock, if it’s required to bring down prices,” said an official.
On the paddy procurement front, 728.4 lakh tonne of the foodgrain equivalent to 489.1 lakh tonne of rice has been procured from 98.3 lakh farmers with total MSP outflow of over Rs 1.6 lakh crore this year. Unlike wheat, which is only a winter (rabi) crop, paddy is grown both in winter and summer (kharif). Officials said the rice stock is enough to meet requirements for one year even if there is no fresh procurement.

This article has been republished from The Times of India.