Appealing to States to maximise procurement of wheat, the Centre has set a target to buy 31 million tonnes (mt) this year. The Agriculture Ministry is set to release its production estimate for the key winter-grown cereal in a couple of weeks. The Centre has also set a target to buy 7 mt of rice and 1.6 mt of Shree Anna from the Rabi season crops.

Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra on Friday chaired a meeting of State Food Secretaries convened in New Delhi to discuss procurement arrangements, where the estimates of purchases were finalised based on the feedback received from States, the Food Ministry said in a statement. Though there were no details about the state-wise target of wheat procurement, Punjab is estimated to buy the highest quantity of 12.5 mt among all States.

‘Be proactive’

Chopra urged officials of the States to adopt a proactive approach and ensure maximum procurement of wheat and also rabi-grown paddy during ensuing marketing season, the Ministry said.

“Various factors impacting procurement such as weather forecast, production estimates and readiness of States for procurement operations were reviewed during the meeting. After deliberations, the estimates for wheat, rice and Shree Anna (nutri cereals) procurement during ensuing rabi marketing season 2025-26 have been fixed,” the Ministry said.

States were advised to focus on procurement of millets for diversification of crops and enhanced nutrition in dietary patterns.

Besides, several other initiatives, such as proposed reforms in TPDS (Targeted Public Distributions System) Control Order, SMART PDS, E-KYC, Mapper SoP, Jan Poshan Kendras and infrastructure improvement in Procurement Centers were also discussed at the meeting. The Warehousing Development Regulatory Authority (WDRA) apprised the gathering about the initiative of pledge financing against e-NWRs (electronic-Negotiable Warehouse receipts). Telangana shared good practices adopted in respect of the Foodgrain Management System in the State.

Missing targets

The Gujarat government presented automation in the supply chain in PDS in the State, the Ministry said, adding that States were asked for optimum utilisation of godowns being created by PACS under the grain storage plan.

After the Centre procured record 43.34 mt of wheat in 2021-22, the procurement has been continuously missing the target in last three years as government could buy 18.79 mt in 2022-23 (target 44.4 mt), 26.2 mt in 2023-24 (target 34.15 mt) and 26.61 mt in 2024-25 (target 37.3 mt).