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Informist, Wednesday, May 27, 2026

 

--Govt ups 2026-27 wheat procurement aim to 34.60 mln tn from 34.50 mln tn 

--Govt raises Gujarat 2026-27 wheat buy target to 100,000 tn from 4,000 tn 

--Govt official:2026-27 wheat procurement target likely to increase further 

--Govt wheat buys at 34.54 mln tn Tue, crosses previous 34.50 mln tn target 

 

By Afra Abubacker

 

NEW DELHI – The Centre has slightly raised the wheat procurement target for the ongoing 2026-27 (Apr-Mar) rabi marketing season to nearly 34.60 million tonnes from 34.50 million tonnes due to a hike in the procurement target for Gujarat. The procurement target is likely to increase further, according to a government official.

 

As of Tuesday, the government has purchased 34.54 million tonnes of wheat, up more than 16% on year. The current procurement figure has crossed the previous target of 34.50 million tonnes.   

 

The government has raised Gujarat's procurement target to 100,000 tonnes from 4,000 tonnes. A further increase in the overall wheat procurement target is likely, the government official said, signalling that targets of some states could see an upward revision soon. 

 

The Centre may also raise the procurement target further as Madhya Pradesh has sought permission to procure 13.1 million tonnes of wheat, up from the current target of 10.0 million tonnes amid strong production and arrivals in the state.

 

A large part of wheat procured during the ongoing season is of sub-par quality. Nearly 68% of wheat bought so far, or 23.34 million tonnes, was purchased under relaxed quality specifications, indicating widespread crop damage caused by unseasonal rains and hailstorms in March. Under the relaxed quality norms, farmers can sell wheat with up to 15% shrivelled and broken grains, compared with the earlier limit of 6%. The permissible limit for loss of lustre has also been relaxed up to 50%. These quality relaxations were unlikely to materially impact the nutritional value of wheat, but could reduce its shelf life.

 

The government procures food grains to maintain buffer stocks, feed 800 million people through welfare programmes, and check the rise in retail prices through open market sales.

 

Following is the state-wise progressive wheat procurement as of Tuesday compared with the year-ago period and the percentage difference:

 

States	Target (in mln tn)	2026-27 (in tonnes)	2025-26 (in tonnes)	% chng
Punjab	12.2	12,163,233	11,923,689	2.01
Haryana	7.2	8,120,596	7,082,919	14.65
Madhya Pradesh	10	10,313,935	7,775,147	32.65
Rajasthan	2.35	2,222,921	1,899,508	17.03
Uttar Pradesh	2.5	1,621,850	1,021,831	58.72
Total*	35.60	34,540,362	29,736,701	16.15

 

* The total does not tally due to the omission of smaller states.  

 

Written by Shreya Shetty

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

 

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