Wheat shortage may eat into your roti

Your roti will get costlier. With the production of wheat falling alarmingly, the coming months may see a serious shortage of the foodgrain.

The Ministry of Agriculture said farmers in the country had sown less wheat this season compared to 2006-07 — when the government had to import wheat to replenish falling buffer stocks. Data released by the ministry on February 15 showed that the crop had been sown in nearly 5 lakh hectares more of land last year.

The government has already put the expected yield of wheat in India at 74.81 million tonnes. Experts feel the drop in production will only lead to lesser stocks and higher prices.

“The impact of a drop in wheat production leading to a depletion of buffer stocks will adversely affect our Public Distribution System,” says Prof M.S. Swaminathan, India’s leading agriculture expert.

Wheat prices have gone up by 12 per cent in the past one year. “The government will have to import wheat. Elections are just one year away,” says O.P. Jain, president, Grain Merchants Association.