The government's wheat procurement in Haryana has been extended till May 31 while the Punjab government has been asked to buy the grain till month-end, a senior Food Ministry official said on Sunday.
The closing date of procurement for Haryana was May 15, while for Punjab May 31. In the case of other states, the closing dates set earlier would continue.
"We have extended procurement operations in Haryana till May 31. Punjab wanted to close early due to negligible arrival of the grain, but we have requested the state government to continue buying till May-end," the official told PTI.
"The Centre has asked wheat-producing states and UTs with procurement closing dates expiring early to continue procurement till 31st May 2022," the Food Ministry said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Punjab's Minister for Food and Civil Supplies Lal Chand Kataruchak ordered the continuation of wheat procurement operations in 232 mandis in the state until May 31.
In other producing states, the earlier set closing dates of procurement would continue,the official added.
For instance, procurement will continue till May 31 in Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir. It will continue till June 10 in Rajasthan, till June 15 in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and till June 30 in Uttarakhand.
Wheat procurement will continue till July 15 in Bihar, the statement added.
Nodal agency Food Corporation of India (FCI) has also been asked to continue with wheat procurement under the central pool, it said. The extended period is expected to benefit farmers. The decision comes in the wake of requests by state governments/UTs to continue the procurement process, it added.
Meanwhile, the procurement of wheat under the central pool is progressing smoothly in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Gujarat, Bihar and Rajasthan.
The ministry further said the government's procurement has been less so far this year mainly due to the higher market prices than MSP, wherein farmers have been selling wheat to private traders. The government on May 13 restricted the export of wheat to rein in high prices of wheat, except in case of the irrevocable letter of credit and requests from neighbouring/food-deficit countries.
The government's wheat procurement reached 18 million tonnes till May 14 of the ongoing 2022-23 marketing year, less than 36.7 million tonnes in the year-ago period.
The wheat procurement target has been revised to 19.5 million tonnes from the earlier target of 44.4 million tonnes for this year.
