Wheat procurement by the government agencies in the key growing states – Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh — for the 2022-23 session is set to commerce. Due to a projected rise in export and high mandi prices, the 44 million tonne (mt) grain purchase target from farmers will be decreased by roughly 10 mt.

While Madhya Pradesh is projected to export a large amount of wheat due to its closeness to ports, the procurement target of 12.9 mt will be reduced by more than 6–7 mt, as the market price of wheat is now above the MSP of Rs 2,015 per quintal. Farmers would be encouraged to sell their produce to exporters as a result of this.

Wheat purchases in Punjab might drop by roughly 1 mt from the session’s objective of 13.2 mt. The purchase of wheat at MSP from farmers has been entrusted to five organisations, including the Food Corporation of India (FCI), Markfeed, and Pungrain.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh, the world’s largest wheat producer, has built up 6,000 procurement centres to begin procuring about 6 million tonnes in the 2022-23 selling season. However, the state was able to obtain 5.64 million tonnes of grain from an estimated 13 lakh farmers the previous year.