Government agencies procure bulk of wheat in Haryana and Punjab

The Centre is quite hopeful of achieving the procurement target of 15 million tonnes of wheat this season.

Citing recent procurement figures, Union Minister of State for Food and Public Distribution, Dr. Akhilesh Prasad Singh today said that latest figures of Haryana show that Government agencies have been able to procure upto 94% of the market arrivals whereas it is around 85% for Punjab. The total procurement till April 11, 2007 in Haryana is 4,26,538 MT against market arrival of 4,52,120 MT. In Punjab, the total procurement is 2,34,621 MT against the market arrival of 2,75,289 MT. The procurement have been almost 96% in Haryana and about 90% in Punjab in the last few days against a relatively sluggish rate in the 1st week of April. This also dispels the notion that the private parties are able to procure the largest chunk of the market arrivals as compared to the Government Agencies.

Dr. Singh attributed the increase in procurement to the government’s decision of giving an attractive bonus of Rs. 100 above the MSP and the recent government’s decision to ban futures trading in rice and wheat, the benefit of which was mainly going to speculators.

According to Dr. Singh, the government was keeping a close watch on the situation and would take all necessary measures to ensure that the procurement targets were reached.

Source : Press Information Bureau

Keywords