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Wheat procurement is proceeding at a snail's pace this year, courtesy an extended winter and unseasonal rains that have delayed harvesting.
The latest information from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) as on Monday shows only 44.56 lakh tonnes (lt) of grain to have arrived in mandis during the ongoing 2011-12 rabi marketing season (April-June) against 131.24 lt during the corresponding period of 2010-11.
Of the 44.56 lt, the FCI and State agencies have procured 38.38 lt. That includes 17.61 lt — out of total arrivals of 17.62 lt — from Haryana, 14.10 lt (17.48 lt) from Madhya Pradesh, 6.02 lt (6.05 lt) from Punjab, 0.45 lt (1.15 lt) from Uttar Pradesh and 0.11 lt (1.89 lt) from Gujarat.
Last season at this time, the Government agencies had bought 123.62 lt out of the total arrivals of 131.24 lt, with these amounting to 55.72 lt (55.77 lt) for Punjab, 47.61 lt (47.62 lt) for Haryana, 17.85 lt (22.48 lt) for Madhya Pradesh, 1.40 lt (2.43 lt) for Rajasthan and 0.79 lt (0.79 lt) from Uttar Pradesh.
“After a long gap, we have had an extended winter that has delayed ripening of the crop and pushed back harvesting by about 10 days. The latest rains will further add to the delay,” a Punjab Agricultural Department official told Business Line .
The unseasonal rains since Sunday have been accompanied by hailstorms in some places. In these areas, some lodging of grain and yield losses is expected. But in 90 per cent or more area, the standing crop is yet to be harvested and farmers will probably wait till the skies clear totally.
“They will not harvest till the crop dries and the moisture content in the grain is brought down to meet official specifications,” the official said.
According to him, the grain quality would be affected only for the crop already harvested and lying on the fields. “This grain may suffer mild discolouration,” he added.
During 2010-11, the FCI and State agencies procured 225.14 lt of wheat. The procured quantity is expected to go up with the Union Agriculture Ministry estimating a record wheat crop of 84.27 million tonnes, against last year's 80.80 million tonnes.
As on April 1, wheat stocks in the Central pool, at 153.64 lt, stood below last year's corresponding level of 161.25 lt, though more than twice the minimum buffer and strategic reserve requirement of 70 lt.
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