New Delhi: The stocks of government procured wheat (public stocks) have declined to a three-year-low, though the current level is still more than 2.5 times the country's minimum operational-cum-strategic reserve requirements, The Indian Express (TIE) reported.
As of April 1, wheat stocks in government godowns were recorded as 18.99 million tonnes (mt) against 27.30 mt last year. However, the stocks are way above the government's buffer norm of 7.46 mt, while the marketing season for the new crop is from April to June.
Though Union Agricultural Ministry has projected wheat production to the record tune of 111.32 mt, a downward revision is expected due to the unusually earlier onset of summer, which is believed to have impacted the grain yields. A clearer picture will surface after the harvesting a procurement of wheat increases after mid-April.
The wheat stocks started to decline after distribution increased exponentially through Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) scheme, in addition to the usual offtake, after the Covid-19 broke out.
When the wheat offtake was 27.19 mt in 2019-29, it reached 36.39 mt in 2020-21 and touched 46.46 mt from April 2021 to February 2022.
PMGKAY- which provides existing ration cardholders with an extra 5 kg grain per person per month free of cost- alone has caused the offtake of 10.35 mt in 2020-21. In April-February 2021-22, PMGKAY's offtake was 18.49 mt.
Meanwhile, rice stocks were at a record 55.04 on April 1.
Further, in April-February 2021-22 government agencies purchased nearly 61 mt of rice. But wheat purchases were below the offtake of 36.39.
Wheat purchases will be lower during this new marketing season due to the export demand. This has caused open market rates to soar over the minimum support price of Rs 2,015 per quintal in many mandis. Wheat exports had hit a record high of 7.85 mt in 2021-22, which is expected to reach 10 mt in the current fiscal. Consequently, the stocks are expected to go down further, TIE reports.