Wheat procurement: State leads in share for Central pool, but misses target

Sarbjit Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 22

With the wheat procurement season almost over, the states are set to fall short of the consolidated target of 300 lakh tonnes fixed by the Central Government. Punjab is leading with a contribution of about 105 lakh tonnes to the Central pool, but it is less than the state target of 110 lakh tonnes.

Official sources said about 222 lakh tonnes of wheat had been procurement from various states so far. Fresh arrivals have nearly ended in the major wheat-producing major states, such as Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

Haryana is the only state which has exceeded its target (65 lakh tonnes) with a procurement of nearly 67 lakh tonnes. The Centre fixed a target of 68 lakh tonnes for Madhya Pradesh, but the procurement from that state is just 39 lakh tonnes so far.

Haryana’s contribution rose as a large number of farmers from Punjab sold their wheat in the neighbouring state to avoid payment hassles. Punjab has faced problems in getting money released from the cash credit limit (CCL) sanctioned by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Centre to make payments to farmers for the wheat procured.

There are reports that the Centre, which released the money in instalments from the CCL, is yet to give its nod to the final tranche.