Wheat purchases set to halve; no plans to curb exports: Govt

New Delhi: The government has revised downwards the estimate for wheat production by 5.7 per cent to 105 million tonnes in the 2021-22 crop year ending June from the earlier projection of 111.32 million tonnes, as the crop productivity has been affected due to the early onset of summer.

India's wheat production stood at 109.59 million tonnes in the 2020-21 crop year. The lowering of estimates has been attributed to "early summer".

Addressing a press conference, Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey said there is no case for 'controlling exports' of wheat.

The government's wheat procurement is expected to fall to 19.5 million tonnes in the 2022-23 marketing year (April-March), much lower than the last year, due to several factors, including higher market prices of wheat in some states compared to the minimum support price (MSP), stocks being held by farmers and traders in anticipation of further price rise and lower production than estimated in some states.

He further added that the government has allocated 55 lakh tonnes of additional rice in place of wheat to states for distribution under the government's free ration scheme PMGKAY.

The Centre has launched the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) to provide free foodgrains to over 80 crore beneficiaries covered under the National Food Security Act as part of its efforts to reduce the hardships of people during the coronavirus pandemic.

Under the scheme, the Centre provides 5 kg of foodgrains per person per month for free. The additional free grain is over and above the normal quota provided under the NFSA at a highly subsidised rate of Rs 2-3 per kg.

Pandey further asserted that there won't be any concern about meeting the domestic demand under the PDS.

The secretary also ruled out the possibility of imposing any curbs on wheat exports as farmers are getting higher than the MSP for their produce.

New export markets like Egypt, Turkey and some European Union countries are opening for Indian wheat. Agri-export promotion body APEDA is facilitating the shipments, he said.

Indian traders have a window for exports till June when the wheat crop from Argentina will arrive, thereby increasing the global availability and reducing pressure on India, he added.

Wheat exports stood at a record 7 million tonnes in the 2021-22 fiscal.

Amid a rise in demand for wheat for export, the secretary said farmers are selling their produce to private players at more than the MSP. This has resulted in lower procurement by government agencies.

Earlier the government had fixed the wheat procurement target at 44.4 million tonnes for the 2022-23 marketing year as against an all-time high of 433.44 lakh tonnes in the previous marketing year.

The rabi marketing season runs from April to March but the bulk procurement ends by June.

Pandey attributed the fall in wheat procurement to several factors, including higher market prices of wheat in some states compared to the MSP, stocks being held by farmers and traders in anticipation of further price rise and lower than estimated production in some states.

The agriculture ministry has revised downwards the estimate for wheat production by 5.7 per cent to 105 million tonnes in the 2021-22 crop year ending June, from the earlier projection of 111.32 million tonnes, as the crop productivity has been affected due to the early onset of summer, he said.

The lowering of estimates has been attributed to "early summer" that has affected the crop yields in states, especially Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, he added.