The government has said that the procurement of wheat during rabi marketing season (RMS) 2023-24 has already surpassed the total procurement of RMS 2022-23.

Wheat procurement till Wednesday during RMS 2023-24 is 195 lakh metric tonne (LMT) whereas in RMS 2022-23, the procurement was 188 LMT. This has largely benefitted the farmers. Minimum support price (MSP) outflow of about Rs 41,148 crore has already been made to about 14.96 lakh farmers during the ongoing wheat procurement operations, according to a statement of the ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution, released on Thursday.

Notably, a major contribution in the procurement comes from three wheat-procuring states of Punjab, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh with procurement of 89.79 LMT, 54.26 LMT and 49.47 LMT, respectively.

One of the major factors, contributing the progressive procurement this year, is the grant of relaxation by the government in quality specifications of wheat being procured, in view of untimely rains leading to lustre loss. This will reduce the hardship of farmers and check any distress sale, the ministry said.

The Centre has also allowed all the states to open procurement centres at village or panchayat level and to carry out the procurement through cooperative societies or gram panchayats or Arhatias, etc. This is in addition to already existing designated procurement centres, for better outreach.

Rice procurement is also progressing smoothly. A quantity of 354 LMT of rice has been procured till Wednesday during kharif crop of KMS 2022-23 with another 140 LMT yet to be procured. Further, a quantity of 106 LMT rice has been estimated to be procured during the rabi crop of KMS 2022-23.

The combined stock position of wheat and rice in the central pool has surpassed 510 LMT which puts the country in a comfortable position to meet its requirements of foodgrains. With the ongoing procurement of wheat and rice, the foodgrains stock levels are on rise in government granaries, according to the statement of the ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution.