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The procurement of wheat during Rabi marketing season 2025-26 is going on smoothly in the major procuring States across the country.
Against an estimated target of 312 lakh tonne fixed for procurement of wheat during 2025-26 season, 256.31 lakh tonne of wheat has already been procured so far, in central pool. The quantity of wheat procured till April 30 this year has already surpassed last year's total procurement of 205.41 lakh tonne on the same date, showing an increase of 24.78 per cent. All the five major wheat procuring states -- Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have procured more wheat this year compared to last year. A total of 21.03 lakh farmers have already been benefitted during 2025-26 season with total MSP outflow to the tune of Rs 62155.96 crores. Major contribution in the procurement came from five procuring states -- Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh with procurement of 103.89 lakh tonne, 65.67 lakh tonne, 67.57 lakh tonne, 11.44 lakh tonne and 7.55 lakh tonne, respectively. With sufficient duration of procurement period still left in 2025-26 season, country is well on course to surpass last year's figures of wheat procurement for the central pool by a substantial margin. The positive outcome in terms of quantity of wheat procurement this year has been a result of concerted efforts by Department of Food and Public Distribution, starting from preparing State specific Action Plans based on learnings from previous years which were shared with the states well in advance. "The Actionable items like awareness generation amongst farmers; Registration of farmers; Readiness of Procurement Centres; Timely payment of MSP to farmers etc were followed up with the respective states on regular basis through review meetings so that any potential bottlenecks are addressed timely," the agriculture ministry said. In most of the cases, payment of MSP was made to farmers within 24 to 48 hours. Measures taken by Department of Food and Public Distribution, also include mandating stockholding limits through the wheat stock portal, according timely approvals for relaxation FAQ Norms, field visit by officers to identified districts for accessing on the ground scenario to facilitate timely action as and when required. (ANI)
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