Wheat procurement extended till May 31 in six states; move to help farmers, says Centre

New Delhi: Wheat procurement has been extended till 31 May 31 in six states, including Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, where it was to end early this month, the food ministry said on Sunday.Wheat procurement was scheduled to end on 10 May in Rajasthan and on 15 May in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.Wheat procurement in the ongoing 2022-23 marketing year began in April. Maximum wheat is procured in the first few months of the year."The Centre has asked wheat producing states and UTs with procurement closing dates expiring early to continue procurement till 31 May, 2022," the food ministry said in a statement.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 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 13 May restricted export of wheat to rein in high prices of wheat, except in case of irrevocable letter of credit and requests from neighbouring/food-deficit countries.The government's wheat procurement reached 18 million tonne till 14 May of the ongoing 2022-23 marketing year, less than 36.7 million tonne in the year-ago period.Wheat procurement target has been revised to 19.5 million tonne from earlier target of 44.4 million tonne for this year.Also Read:G-7 nations criticise India for banning wheat exports amid supply shortages, soaring pricesIndia bans wheat export with immediate effect to control rising domestic pricesRestriction on agricultural exports are an 'indirect tax' on farmers, says Bharat Krishak SamajWheat export ban will help in crushing attempts to hoard Indian wheat for price manipulation in global markets, say sources