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Wheat procurement all set to surpass 2001 record

Special Correspondent

FCI will have surplus stock next April

NEW DELHI: Wheat procurement this year is all set to surpass the record of 2001. Till Thursday, the Food Corporation of India and its agencies had procured 205.25 lakh tonnes of wheat for the Targetted Public Distribution System, as against 99.28 lakh tonnes procures in the corresponding period last year.

Sources said going by the average daily procurement of over 1.60 lakh tonnes, the record procurement of 206.30 lakh tonnes in 2001, would be surpassed by Thursday night. Procurement of wheat would continue till June 15.

However, the recent continuous rainfall in parts of northern India has worried the officials about the stored stocks. FCI Chairman and Managing-Director Alok Singh on Wednesday communicated to all the major wheat-growing States including Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan the need for preserving the procured grain “in good condition.”

According to sources, the record procurement would leave the FCI with a surplus stock of about 10 million tonnes next April. Even if the country were to go in for a strategic reserve stock of five million tonnes, its kitty would have “exportable surplus.” This should also have an impact on wheat and atta prices that shot up last year even though the benchmark was likely to be Rs.11 per kg that was given to farmers this year as the minimum support price.

Sources said although there was enough storage capacity/godowns with the government, about 50,000 tonnes of wheat in Punjab, 8,400 tonnes in Haryana and one lakh tonne in Uttar Pradesh was kept in the open but preserved as per norms. Wheat kept in the open has to be preserved on wooden crates and covered with double tarpaulin sheets.

Loss of quality

There were reports of 1,300 tonnes of procured wheat in Haryana getting wet. Already, the State government is in dispute with the Centre over the loss of quality in 3.25 lakh tonnes of procured wheat a few years ago that was not preserved as per the standards. Wheat worth Rs.150 crore was thus spoilt and rendered unfit for human consumption.

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