India: Wheat procurement crosses 18.39 mt, 54% more than last year

Arrival of wheat gathered pace across key producing state with government agencies purchasing over 18.39 million tonnes (MT) of the grain from 15 March till 23 April, which is 54% more than the same period in the previous marketing year.

Last year, government agencies procured over 11.92 MT during the period, according to the government data. The marketing year runs from 15 March to 30 June.

Punjab leads procurement with 5.92 MT as of 23 April compared with 3.49 MT in the same period last year. The procurement process started late in Punjab, only picking up after Baisakhi which was celebrated on 13 April.

However, in coming days the arrivals are set to pick up. “The target is to make sure that the daily arrival of wheat in the mandis touches 500,000 metric tonnes,” said Punjab’s minister for food, civil supplies and consumer affairs, Lal Chand Kataruchak.

Punjab is followed by Haryana where procurement stood at 5.66 MT as of 23 April compared with 4.81 MT during the same period last year. The government is targeting to procure 7.5 MT from Haryana.

Punjab and Haryana are the biggest contributors to the central stock of wheat.

Another factor is that the decision by Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan to pay farmers a bonus over and above the minimum support price (MSP) of ₹2,425 per quintal has started showing results. Both the states witnessed a substantial increase in wheat procurement this year. Madhya Pradesh procured 5.40 MT of wheat this year as compared with 2.97 MT last year. Similarly, the total procurement was 0.82 MT in Rajasthan compared with 0.23 MT last year.

Overall, In the 2025-26, marketing season, the government is targeting to procure 31.2 million tonnes of wheat from farmers from Punjab (12.4 MT), Haryana (7.5 MT), Madhya Pradesh (6 MT), Uttar Pradesh (3 MT ) and Rajasthan (2 MT). In 2024-25 marketing year, the government procured 26.6 million tonnes of wheat.

The increase in procurement will help the government curb price surges and cater to welfare schemes.

According to the Union agriculture ministry, wheat production is projected at a record 115.43 MT during the 2024-25 rabi season, surpassing the previous year’s 113.29 MT. The 2% increase is mainly attributed to conducive weather with no natural calamities.