The government has fixed a conservative target of wheat procurement in the range of 30 million-32 million tonnes for the 2024-25 rabi marketing season, according to the food ministry.
The lower target has been fixed despite the Ministry of Agriculture hoping for a record wheat production of 114 million-115 million tonnes in the 2023-24 crop year (July-June).
The target was fixed after a deliberation with state food secretaries in a meeting chaired by Union Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra in the national capital on Wednesday.
“After deliberations, the estimates for wheat procurement during the ensuing rabi marketing season of 2024-25 were fixed in the range of 30 million-32 million tonnes,” the ministry said in a statement.
Apart from wheat, the ministry has fixed a rabi paddy procurement target in terms of rice in the range of 9 million-10 million tonnes.
The government has also set a procurement target of 6,00,000 tonnes for rabi coarse grains /millets.
In the meeting, the Centre has asked states and Union Territories to focus on procurement of millets for diversification of crops and enhanced nutrition in dietary patterns.
In the 2023-24 season, the government procured about 26.2 million tonnes of wheat against the target of 34.15 million tonnes. In 2022-23, wheat procurement was only 18.8 million tonnes against the target of 44.4 million tonnes. The procurement was lower due to fall in production.