News

The government has procured 15 million tonne wheat in 2017-18 (Apr-Mar) up 12.1% from a year ago. Punjab has surpassed Haryana to become the highest contributor to the government’s procurement drive. The government has so far purchased 5.5 million tonne wheat from farmers in the state, up 13.5% from the year-ago period. In Haryana, the government has bought 5.4 million tonne wheat, up 3.4% from a year ago. The government has purchased 3.4 million tonne wheat in Madhya Pradesh, up 12.9% on year, while in Uttar Pradesh, it has bought 267,995 tonne so far, sharply higher than 77,807 tonne in the year-ago period. The Uttar Pradesh government has set a target to procure 8 million tonne wheat this year, much above the central government’s 3- million tonne target for the state. The state government has also offered an incentive of 10 rupees per 100 kg for loading and transportation of the crop, Overall, the central government has set a target to procure 33.0 million tonne of wheat for the current marketing season, up from 22.9 million tonne a year ago.

The government does not plan to hike import duty on wheat to 25% from the current 10%. There was no immediate need to raise the duty, as prices were above the minimum support price in most market. Procurement was progressing well and the harvest this year was also good. The government had on Mar 28, imposed 10% customs duty on import of wheat to prevent fall in prices following a bumper crop in the country this year.

Madhya Pradesh is likely to produce a record 22.5 millon tonne wheat in the crop year ending June due to higher acreage and better yield. The second largest producer of wheat is 22% higher on year and even above the previous estimate of 21.0 millon tonne pegged in January. Higher minimum support price has also encouraged farmers to grow more wheat this year. Adequate showers during monsoon led to better yields for and wheat this year.

Wheat prices in major wholesale markets across the country were stable despite high arrivals, as government procurement restricted any fall. Mill-quality wheat was being sold unchanged from previous close. A total of 20,000-30,000 bags (1bag=100kg) of wheat arrive in Punjab daily and arrivals are likely to double by the end of April. Wheat prices were unchanged in other major markets of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. Prices of the grain fell by 20-30 rupees in Delhi market due to high arrivals from Punjab and Madhya Pradesh. As of Tuesday, the government had procured 11.9 million tonne wheat for the current marketing year that started April, 13.7% higher than in the year-ago period. The May wheat contract on the NCDEX ended at 1,650 rupees per 100 kg, up 0.4% from previous close.

Production of wheat in Bangladesh is expected to be higher in 2017-18 (May-Apr). Production of wheat is rising in the country by 2.3% to 1.3 millon tonne because of higher acreage, which may grow by 5,000 ha to 420,000 ha.

Severe cold came to Ukraine early this week. Due to an intrusion of arctic air, night air temperatures dropped to subzero values, even snowfalls occurred in the eastern regions. Because of the deterioration of weather conditions, planting of spring cereals in Ukraine slowed down. Early spring cereals and pulses had been sown on 2228 thosand hactare by April 18 – this is 3.5% less than at the same time last year. Planting of spring wheat lags slightly: 155 thousand hactare planted to date against 156 thousand hactare in 2016.