No value cut for shrivelled and broken grains of wheat up to 18 per cent; public procurement date extended
According to a press release issued by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, if a farmer’s wheat contains up to 18 per cent of shrivelled or broken grains, it will be considered normal and entitled to full payment. The earlier limit was 6 per cent.
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The government has decided to relax procurement norms after it prohibited wheat export. Besides, it has also decided to extend the wheat procurement period.
According to a press release issued by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, if a farmer’s wheat contains up to 18 per cent of shrivelled or broken grains, it will be considered normal and entitled to full payment. The earlier limit was 6 per cent. The emergence of shrivelled grains is a natural phenomenon appearing as a result of the extreme heatwave that enveloped the northern part of the country in the month of March.
As far as procurement for the central pool is concerned, the Centre has asked wheat-producing states and UTs with procurement closing dates expiring early to continue procurement till 31 May 2022.
According to the release, “The Centre has decided to allow FCI to procure wheat in Punjab and Haryana, including (the) UT of Chandigarh, for (the) central pool by relaxing the FAQ (fair average quality) of shrivelled and broken grains up to 18 per cent without any value cut. This decision will reduce the hardship of farmers and avoid distress sale of wheat.” However, Punjab and Haryana had written to the Centre seeking relaxation of up to 20 per cent in the procurement norms.
The Centre has made the decision at a time when the procurement in both states is about to be over. The Punjab Government had announced to conclude wheat procurement in various mandis in a phased manner from as early as May 5. The Centre has now asked Punjab, too, to continue its procurement up to May 31. In the wake of this request from the Centre, Punjab’s Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Lal Chand Kataruchak has issued orders to 232 mandis to continue their procurement up to the month-end.
Read… Punjab to conclude wheat procurement in phased manner from May 5; decision comes in the wake of decline in arrivals
As far as the last date for public procurement in other states is concerned, the agencies will procure wheat in Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir up to May 31 and in Rajasthan up to June 10. The procurement of wheat will continue in Uttar Pradesh (UP), Madhya Pradesh (MP), Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh (HP) till June 15. The dates of wheat procurement have been extended in Uttarakhand and Bihar up to June 30 and July 15 respectively.
According to the Central Food Grains Procurement Portal (CFPP) of the Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD), 179.99 lakh tonnes (lt) of wheat has been procured so far. A total of 95.56 lt of wheat has been procured in Punjab, 41.34 lt in MP and 40.60 lt in Haryana while the procurement in UP has been only 2.37 lt and that in Rajasthan a paltry 762 tonnes. The government had earlier fixed a wheat procurement target of 444 lt, which was later revised downward to 195 lt.
