The government has procured 69.24 lakh tonnes of wheat in the rabi marketing season so far at minimum support price (MSP) for nearly Rs 14,000 crore.

"Wheat procurement has recently commenced in Rabi Marketing Season 2022-23 in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan," an official statement said.

The rabi marketing season runs from April to March. However, the bulk of wheat procurement takes place between April to June.

"A quantity of 69.24 lakh tonnes of wheat has been procured up to April 17 benefitting 5.86 Lakh farmers with MSP value of Rs 13,951.41 crore," it added.

Wheat MSP has been fixed at Rs 2,015 per quintal.

Out of the total procurement, Punjab contributed 32,16,668 tonnes, Haryana 27,76,496 tonnes and Madhya Pradesh 8,98,679 tonnes.

The paddy procurement is progressing smoothly in kharif marketing season (KMS) of 2021-22 at MSP from farmers, it added.

The kharif marketing season runs from October to September.

"A quantity of 754.08 lakh tonnes of paddy (includes Kharif Crop 750.95 lakh tonnes and Rabi crop 3.14 lakh tonnes) has been procured in KMS 2021-22 up to April 17, 2022 in procuring States/UTs. Till now about 108.90 Lac farmers have been benefitted with MSP value of Rs 1,47,800.28 crore," the statement said.

Source: ET