COMMODITY
Procurement of wheat, paddy rise significantly between 2013-14, 2021-22 marketing seasons: Subodh Singh
Jan-25-2023

The food ministry additional secretary -- Subodh Singh has said that procurement of wheat and paddy in quantity and value terms has risen significantly between the 2013-14 and 2021-22 marketing seasons, on account of a hike in the minimum support price (MSP) and purchases made from more states. He added 'procurement has become broad-based and we are purchasing grains from more states now. MSP has increased significantly'.

The procurement is taking place in Himachal Pradesh, Assam and Tripura, and added that the FCI has started buying paddy from Rajasthan. Production of wheat and paddy has also risen since 2013-14. The number of farmers covered under the MSP operations has also increased because of the higher quantity of wheat and paddy procurement by the Food Corporation of India (FCI), the nodal agency for the procurement and distribution of foodgrains.

In the case of wheat, the procurement increased to 433.44 lakh tonnes in 2021-22 from 250.72 lakh tonnes in 2013-14. The value of wheat procured has increased to Rs 85,604 crore from Rs 33,847 crore. Singh highlighted that 49.2 lakh farmers growing wheat were benefitted in 2021-22 against 20.47 lakh farmers in 2016-17. The data on the number of farmers who benefitted prior to 2016-17 is not available. The MSP of wheat has been increased by 57 per cent to Rs 2,125 per quintal from Rs 1,350 per quintal in 2013-14.

In the case of paddy, the MSP increased by around 53 per cent to Rs 2,060 per quintal compared to Rs 1,345 per quintal in 2013-14. The procurement of paddy has increased to 857 lakh tonnes in the 2021-22 marketing year (October-September) from 475.30 lakh tonnes in 2013-14. The MSP value paid to paddy farmers stood at nearly Rs 1.7 lakh crore during the 2021-22 marketing year from around Rs 64,000 crore. More than 125 lakh paddy farmers were covered under the MSP operations in 2021-22 against 73 lakhs in 2015-16.

  RELATED NEWS >>