Govt’s wheat stocks swells, procurement at 31 MT, highest in last four years
By Sandip Das
The government’s wheat procurement for 2026-27 rabi marketing season (April-June) has exceeded the 31 million tonne (MT), highest in the last four years
Officials said with procurement of wheat currently on mostly in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, overall purchase under minimum support price (MSP) this season is heading towards the revised target for the season of 34.5 MT. For the first time in the season, overall purchase by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and state agencies has recorded 6% higher than the year-ago level after continuously trailing for the last six weeks since the commencement of procurement by Food Corporation of India and state agencies from April 1.
The purchase of wheat from 31 million farmers across key producing states was against arrivals of over 36 MT grain in the mandis across key producing states including Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. In the first six weeks of previous year (2025-26) procurement season, over 38 MT of grain had arrived in mandis.
Relaxed Quality Norms
The MSP purchase got a boost last month, when the food ministry relaxed norms for Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan and gaev now for grain purchase upto 70% luster loss and increased the shriveled or broken grain limit to 15% from the existing limit of 6%. Punjab (12.16 MT), Haryana (8.11 MT), Madhya Pradesh (7.7 MT), Rajasthan (1.71 MT) and Uttar Pradesh (1.24 MT) are other major contributors to the central pool wheat stock so far.
Madhya Pradesh is expected to put another 2 -3 MT of wheat into central pool stocks in the coming weeks as over 10.51 MT of grain arrived in the mandi. This time procurement operations have been delayed in the state due to infrastructural constraints.
At present, the FCI has over 41.69 MT of wheat as the central pool stock against a buffer and stratigic reserve norm of 27.58 MT for July 1.
Record Output Projections
The agriculture ministry has projected a record 120 MT of wheat output in 2025-2026 crop years (July-June), trade sources said that output is definitely higher than 117 MT in 2024-25 crop year but likely to less by 2 MT from the government’s estimate. The government has announced a MSP of Rs 2585/quintal for current marketing years.
After lifting the nearly four years ban on wheat exports in February, the government has approved 5 MT of wheat and 1 MT of wheat products exports have now been permitted. The decision to allow additional quota for exports, followed a comprehensive review of current production, stock availability, and price trends, according to the statement.
This article has been republished from The Financial Express.