New Delhi, May 30 (IANS): A total of 184.58 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of wheat and 810.05 LMT of paddy has been procured till Sunday in the current season, the government said on Monday even as wheat procurement from Punjab, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh saw a massive dip compared to last season.
The wheat procurement under the central pool is progressing in Rabi Marketing Season 2022-23 in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The wheat procured till Sunday benefited about 17.50 lakh farmers with minimum support price (MSP) value of Rs 37,192.07 crore, data from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution showed.
Paddy procurement under the central pool is progressing smoothly in Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2021-22, in various procuring states/UTs. Up to Sunday, a total of 810.05 LMT of Paddy (including Kharif Crop 754.69 LMT and Rabi Crop 55.37 LMT) has been procured, benefiting 117.05 lakh farmers with MSP value of Rs 1,58,770.64 crore.
While the highest quantity wheat at 96.16 LMT was procured from Punjab, the number of farmers benefitted - 7,97,795 - too was highest from the state. In case of paddy, at 187.28 LMT, it was again Punjab that showed highest procurement while Chhattisgarh topped the list of beneficiary farmers at 21,05,972.
Although wheat procurement will continue for some more time, the current quantity procured in Punjab is way below the 132.22 LMT procured last year (RMS 2021-22). Untimely spells of heat waves in March and April across northwest Indian plains had led to shriveling of the wheat grain and in turn. led to crop loss. Almost simultaneously, the Russia-Ukraine war had led to global demand for wheat and farmers directed their wheat for exports, in turn, affecting the procurement for the central pool.
However, more than the Punjab procurement, it is the farmers from Madhya Pradesh who made hay resulting in a dip in procurement for the central pool in that state. Madhya Pradesh's procurement is way too less this year - at 44.45 LMT - as compared to 128.16 LMT last year. Haryana's procurement at 40.97 LMT too was more than 50 per cent less compared to 84.93 LMT of last season, Food Corporation of India (FCI) record showed.