NEW DELHI: The government has fixed a conservative target of wheat procurement in the range of 30-32 million tonnes for the 2024-25 rabi marketing season, according to the food ministry.The lower target has been fixed despite the Ministry of Agriculture hoping for a record wheat production of 114-115 million tonnes in the 2023-24 crop year (July-June).The target was fixed after a deliberation with state food secretaries in a meeting chaired by Union Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra in the national capital on Wednesday.”After deliberations, the estimates for wheat procurement during the ensuing rabi marketing season of 2024-25 were fixed in the range of 30-32 million tonnes,” the ministry said in a statement.Apart from wheat, the ministry has fixed a rabi paddy procurement target in terms of rice in the range of 9-10 million tonnes.The government has also set a procurement target of 6,00,000 tonnes for rabi coarse grains /millets (Shri Anna).In the meeting, the Centre has asked states and Union Territories to focus on procurement of millets for diversification of crops and enhanced nutrition in dietary patterns.In the 2023-24 season, the government procured about 26.2 million tonnes of wheat against the target of 34.15 million tonnes.In 2022-23, wheat procurement was only 18.8 million tonnes against the target of 44.4 million tonnes.The procurement was lower due to fall in production.
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