New Delhi, Apr 4 Wheat procurement was down by 36 per cent till yesterday this year at 4.34 lakh tonnes, mainly due to less arrival of crops from Madhya Pradesh and delays in harvesting in Haryana.

Food Corporation of India (FCI) had bought 6.74 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period.

Overall arrivals of wheat have fallen by almost 34 per cent to 6.03 lakh tonnes so far this year, as against 9.08 lakh tonnes in the year—ago period.

In MP, arrivals are less by over two lakh tonnes so far at 5.25 lakh tonnes. Arrival of wheat had not started in Haryana till yesterday, as compared to about 97,000 tonnes of arrivals and procurement in the state in the year—ago period.

“Arrivals of wheat in Haryana have not started because of delays in harvesting,” said a senior government official. According to FCI data, the procurement of wheat has taken place so far in MP, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh.

MP has procured 4.32 lakh tonnes so far as against 5.76 lakh tonnes during the period under review. In Uttar Pradesh, as much as 35 tonnes of wheat arrived in the market and the entire quantity was procured by government agencies.

The government’s wheat purchases in Gujarat had risen to 2,019 tonnes till March 31 from 119 tonnes in the year-ago period. The minimum support price (MSP) for wheat is Rs 1,120 per quintal.

The government had procured 22.5 million tonnes in the entire 2010—11 marketing year (April—March). It expects procurement to touch 26.2 million tonnes in 2011—12 as output is estimated to be a record 81.47 million tonnes in the 2010—11 crop year (July—June).

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