New Delhi, May 1 Procurement of wheat during the ongoing rabi marketing season is going on smoothly in the major procuring states across the country with over Rs 256.3 lakh metric tonnes of the crop already procured at the minimum support price (MSP) so far, for which Rs. 62155.96 crores has been paid to 21.03 lakh farmers, according to an official statement issued on Thursday.
The quantity of wheat procured till April 30 this year has already surpassed last year’s total procurement of 205.41 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) on the same date, showing an increase of 24.78 per cent. All the 5 major wheat procuring states of Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh have procured more wheat this year compared to last year, the statement said.
Figures for the contribution from each state show that Punjab with 103.89 LMT was the highest, followed by Madhya Pradesh at 67.57 LMT and Haryana was a close third with 65.67 LMT. Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh were next with 11.44 LMT and 7.55 LMT, respectively. The overall target for this year’s procurement has been fixed at 312 LMT.
With sufficient duration of procurement period still left in the current rabi marketing season, the country is well on course to surpass last year’s figures of wheat procurement for the central pool by a substantial margin, the official statement said.
The positive outcome in terms of quantity of wheat procurement this year has been a result of concerted efforts by the Department of Food and Public Distribution, starting from preparing state-specific Action Plans based on learnings from previous years, which were shared with the states well in advance. The actionable items like awareness generation amongst farmers, registration of farmers, readiness of procurement centres, timely payment of MSP to farmers, etc, were followed up with the respective states on a regular basis through review meetings so that any potential bottlenecks are addressed in a timely manner. In most cases, payment of MSP was made to farmers within 24 to 48 hours, the statement said.
Measures taken by the Department of Food and Public Distribution, also include mandating stockholding limits through the wheat stock portal, according timely approvals for relaxation in FAQ norms, field visits by officers to identified districts for assessing the ground scenario to facilitate timely action as and when required, the statement added.
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