Rains hit Punjab’s wheat crop but grain piling up at mandis, govt procurement shooting up - Sonal Matharu

The Print

In compounds outside wheat mandis across Punjab, gunny bags full of golden grain are piled up in huge quantities. Less than a month into the procurement season, the state has already contributed more than 100 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of wheat in 2023-24 to the central government’s reserves. Haryana and Madhya Pradesh are the next big contributors with around 55 LMT and 50 LMT, respectively.

Earlier this year, unseasonal rains before harvesting damaged standing crops in Punjab, bringing back fears of another year of low production from one of the top three wheat-producing states in the country. 

Despite the damage, the state government’s mandi arrival and procurement data starting 1 April suggests that the procurement of wheat this year is rising fast.

As of 29 April, the government had purchased 101 LMT, while the private agencies had bought 4 LMT wheat from Punjab, the data revealed.

The high procurement rate can also be gauged from the fact that last year, the central government’s wheat procurement for the entire season from across the country was at a record low of 188 LMT. The reasons behind the drastic fall were extreme weather conditions and spiralling prices in the private and international markets. 

According to Himanshu, associate professor, centre for economic studies and planning, Jawaharlal Nehru University, wheat procurement by the government was low last year because the market prices were higher than the mandi rates. 

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