The Government expects to procure a record 44 million tonnes (mt) of >wheat in the current rabi marketing season starting April. This is about 6 mt or 15 per cent more than last year’s 38.14 mt.

The wheat procurement estimates were finalised at a meeting of State Food Secretaries on Monday. The country is expected to produce 92.3 mt of wheat this year against last year’s record output of 94.88 mt.

For the current year, the Centre has declared a minimum support price of Rs 1,350 a quintal, up from last year’s Rs 1,285. Sudhir Kumar, Secretary, Food and Public Administration, requested the Food Corporation of India and State procurement agencies to proactively open adequate purchase centres with sufficient manpower. The meeting also reviewed storage plans and discussed other issues such as the availability of credit to State agencies involved in procurement, setting of purchase centres and availability of adequate packaging material. The Food Corporation was directed to computerise information about the number and locations of its agencies. All States have been asked to set up a control room to update daily information on the progress of procurement on a Web portal.