Procurement Of Wheat Starts On Subdued Note

New Delhi: Procurement of wheat for the 2007-08 rabi marketing season (April-June) has started on a subdued note, with harvesting and mandi arrivals likely to pick up only from the next week. Total market arrivals as on April 11 amounted to 9.98 lakh tonnes (lt), much below 15.62 lt during the corresponding previous period. Of the arrivals, Madhya Pradesh (where the crop is harvested comparatively early) accounted for 4.15 lt, followed by Haryana (2.84 lt), Punjab (1.55 lt), Rajasthan (95,372 tonnes) and Uttar Pradesh (39,271 tonnes). It is apparent that the country is headed for a bumper wheat crop this year, as cumulative arrivals in Madhya Pradesh are more than last year's figure of 2.25 lt. Rajasthan, too, has saw higher mandi arrivals this time. Of the total market arrivals, Food Corporation of India (FCI) and State agencies have procured just 3.92 lt against 11.127 lt purchases made in the comparative previous period. In Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, private players are mopping up most of the grain.