Rice, wheat procurement remains ‘consistently’ low; House panel raises concern

Expressing concern that actual procurement of rice and wheat has consistently remained below estimates in recent years and below targets in States such as Bihar, Gujarat, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, Parliament Standing Committee on Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution — headed by senior DMK MP Karunanidhi Kanimozhi, has asked the Union Food Ministry to strengthen its procurement planning and coordination with States to minimise the gap between estimated and actual procurement of both the food grains.

In a report on the Demands Demands for Grants of the Department of Food and Public Distribution, the panel noted that since 2022-23 the procurement of wheat and rice has been less than 30% of the total production. “Moreover, actual procurement of wheat has been 76.71%, 71.35% and 87.29% of the estimate for the years 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26 respectively. Similarly, the actual procurement of rice has been less than target since 2022-23,” the report revealed.

During the Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) of 2024-25, the procurement of rice from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Punjab has been 25.60 Lakh Metric Tonnes (LMT), 0.003 LMT and 116.13 LMT against the target of 35 LMT, 5.29 LMT and 124 LMT respectively, the panel said. During the Rabi Marketing Season (RMS) of 2025-26, the procurement of wheat has been less than the target in the states of Bihar, Gujarat, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, it added.

The Government told the panel that any fluctuation in estimated production and actual production results in variation in procurement. “Procurement depends on multiple factors like production, market surplus, minimum support price, prevailing market rates, demand supply situation and participation of private traders, etc, the Government informed the House panel.

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Noting these factors, the panel asked the Government to strengthen its procurement planning and coordination with States to minimise the gap between estimated and actual procurement of wheat and rice. “While noting the Department’s submission that procurement levels are influenced by factors such as production fluctuations, market surplus, MSP, prevailing market prices, demand–supply conditions and participation of private traders, the Committee are concerned that actual procurement has consistently remained below estimates in recent years and below targets in several States,” the report said.

The panel asked the Union Government to review the methodology used for estimating procurement requirements, enhance real-time monitoring of production and market arrivals, and work closely with State Governments — particularly in States where procurement has significantly fallen short of targets — to ensure that procurement operations are more realistic, responsive and effective. The panel has asked the government to apprise it of the corrective measures taken on the suggestions from the panel.