E-Paper
MP surpasses Punjab in wheat procurement this season
MP govt says 127.67 lakh metric tonne wheat procured till June 8 against Punjab’s 127.62 lakh metric tonnes till May 31; procurement in the central state is on till June 15
Madhya Pradesh claimed to have attainted the top position among all states, surpassing traditional leader Punjab, in wheat procurement on support price this season by a marginal figure.
The MP government said in an official communiqué that it procured 127.67 lakh metric tonnes of wheat till June 8 and it has week still in hand. In comparison, Punjab had procured 127.62 lakh metric tonnes of wheat by May 31, the end of the procurement season in the state.
With this, approximately 70% of total wheat procured till date in the country on support price has come from Madhya Pradesh and Punjab.
“Madhya Pradesh has reached the first position in the country in procurement of wheat on support price. So far, 127.67 metric tonnes wheat has been procured in Madhya Pradesh. Punjab ranks second in the country. Thus, 33% of the total procured wheat by all the states of the country has been procured in Madhya Pradesh,” stated the communique.
It said, “As much as 386 lakh metric tonnes of wheat has been procured throughout the country. Wheat procurement in Madhya Pradesh has increased by 74% as compared to last season. Last year 73.69 lakh metric tonnes wheat was procured in Madhya Pradesh on support price.”
Madhya Pradesh principal secretary, food and civil supplies, Shivshekhar Shukla, said, “Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan gave top priority to the management of wheat procurement. In 75 consecutive meetings conducted by the CM from March 23, wheat procurement was reviewed daily. Leaving behind the hurdles of Corona lockdown and Nisarga cyclone impact, the procurement team, corona warriors and farmers of Madhya Pradesh made concerted efforts in this task.”
The principal secretary said the government formulated an effective strategy for wheat procurement. All arrangements were made while procurement started late on April 15 due to the pandemic. The government made arrangements for additional gunny bags and storage immediately.
“The biggest challenge was to ensure more procurement in a short time from more farmers. For this, the number of procurement centres was increased from 3,545 last year to 4,529 this year. While adhering to social distancing, the system of sending SMS to farmers was ensured so that only those who received the SMS reached the procurement centre. For the first time, in view of the challenge of completing procurement at the appropriate time, the facility to determine the SMS number at each centre was given to the collectors. At least 75 lakh SMSes were sent to farmers to ensure their awareness about Corona and other related information”, said the principal secretary.
On FCI portal not showing the figures as being claimed by the state government, the principal secretary said, “The FCI data on its web portal shows Punjab ahead but its data is yet to be updated. Wheat procurement process in Punjab came to an end on May 31 for this year, hence there is no chance of any further increase in Punjab procurement figure whereas in Madhya Pradesh procurement will go on up to June 15.”
