The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution said in a statement on May 15 that the Center has asked wheat producing states and Union Territories (UTs) to continue procurement of wheat till May 31.
The ministry said the extension of the wheat procurement season was “expected to benefit farmers”. The ministry had also directed the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to continue procurement of wheat under the central election.
The ministry said the decision was taken after states and union territories requested for extension of the procurement season.
The ministry said that procurement of wheat under the central pool during Rabi Marketing Season (RMS) 2022-2023 in Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Gujarat, Bihar and Rajasthan will go smoothly. has progressed. Rabi marketing season runs from April to March.
“Wheat procurement under the central pool has been lower during RMS 2022-23 in line with the previous RMS 2021-22, mainly due to higher market price than MSP, with farmers selling wheat to private traders. The central government had on May 13 decided to restrict wheat exports, except through irrevocable letters of credit and requests from neighboring/food-deficit countries, to rein in high wheat prices,” the statement read.
Till May 14, 180 Lakh Metric Tonnes (LMT) had been procured as against 367 LMT during RMS 2021-2022, MSP price of Rs 36,208 crore was paid to 16.83 lakh farmers.