Union Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra said that although the wheat crop is not likely to be damaged temperature is a bit on the high side and expressed confidence of achieving a record production of 112 million tonnes in this crop year ending June.
The Secretary said that the ban on export of wheat would continue, which would increase the availability of the grain for government procurement.
He said that the government would procure about 35 million tonnes of wheat in the 2023-24 marketing year (April-March).
Most of the procurement of wheat, the main rabi crop, takes place between April and June.
Mr. Chopra said that the prices of wheat have come down and after the arrival of the new crop, the prices will fall further. “(On Wednesday), we had a meeting with the state food secretaries, which was followed by a meeting with the state food ministers. And what we have found in the meeting is that the food scenario in the country is very comfortable,” Mr. Chopra said this on the sidelines of a program on Thursday evening.
He said that the Meteorological Department made a presentation regarding the weather conditions.
“Therefore, no heat wave is expected to harm the wheat crop in the next two weeks, which is a critical period for grain formation,” the secretary said.
“Therefore there is no report of wheat drought or any other adverse conditions for the wheat crop till date,” Mr. Chopra said.
They were expected to achieve an estimated 112.18 million tonnes of production this crop year, according to the agriculture ministry’s second advance estimate.
India’s wheat production has declined to 107.74 million tonnes in the 2021-22 crop year (July-June) from 109.59 million tonnes in the previous year due to heat wave in some of the major producing states.
“There is no adverse weather condition right now. The temperature is 3-4 degree Celsius above normal, but the fact is that it is not going to affect wheat adversely,” Mr. Chopra said.
He stressed, “… though the temperature is slightly high, no damage is expected to the wheat crop.”
Asked about the impact on retail prices of wheat following the government’s decision to sell 5 million tonnes of wheat in the open market, Mr Chopra said rates have come down by about 10%.
“Mandi prices, which were a matter of concern for us, are also slowly coming down,” he said.
He informed that the price of wheat at mandi level has come down from Rs 2,800 per quintal to Rs 2,300 per quintal after the launch of Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) on January 25.
The prices are with respect to last season’s wheat which is coming in the market.
“So whenever we start bringing this season’s wheat into the market, we will definitely find that prices will come down further,” Mr. Chopra said.
Asked whether more quantity would be sold under OMSS, he said the 50 lakh tonnes announced so far would be sufficient.
The Food Corporation of India (FCI) has already sold about 2.34 million tonnes of wheat to bulk consumers out of 4.5 million tonnes earmarked. Two more rounds of auction will be held this month.
“So we are hopeful that more stock will be lifted and prices have already come down,” Mr Chopra said.
The secretary said that the government has set a target of procuring 34.1 million tonnes of wheat for the marketing year 2023-24.
“So, 341 lakh tonnes (34.1 million tonnes) should provide us with a very comfortable position with respect to our stocks,” he added.
Responding to a question regarding the low target set by the government, Mr. Chopra said that the average wheat procurement has been 35 million tonnes.
The Center had procured around 44 million tonnes in the marketing year 2021-22, but this has come down to around 19 million tonnes in 2022-23.
The government requires about 1.5 million tonnes per month for the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and other welfare schemes.
Asked about private business procurement strategy this year, Mr Chopra said: “As export restrictions continue, we expect more wheat to be available for public procurement.” So far, he said, the government has no proposal to lift the export ban. The government had banned the export of wheat in May last year to rein in wheat and flour prices.
On the possibility of wheat prices falling below the MSP due to the arrival of new crops harming the interests of farmers, the Secretary said that the rates will remain around the MSP.
On plans to lift the ban on broken rice, the secretary said there is no proposal as of now and the government will consider allowing exports if it feels comfortable about national food security.