Wheat procurement hits zero in Kumaon as farmers turn to open mkt
Rudrapur: For the first time in five years, not a single grain of wheat has been procured by govt centres in Kumaon this season, as farmers sold their produce to private buyers offering rates well above the Minimum Support Price (MSP).
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The procurement season, which began on April 1 and runs till June 30, has drawn a complete blank across all 53 govt centres set up in Udham Singh Nagar, Nainital, and Champawat. The MSP for wheat was set at ₹2,425 per quintal, but farmers fetched prices ranging from ₹2,625 to ₹2,750 in the open market.
"Since the open market is offering rates higher than MSP, farmers are naturally selling there. That's why procurement at govt centres has dropped to zero this year," said Ashok Kumar, deputy RMO, food department.
The global wheat shortage caused by the Ukraine-Russia war has pushed international prices up, inadvertently benefiting Indian farmers but leaving state procurement efforts redundant. "We will be taking up the matter with senior officials in Dehradun for necessary intervention," the RMO said.
Despite 38 centres being run by cooperative societies and others by the food department and the National Cooperative Consumers' Federation (NCCF) of India, no procurement has taken place. Official data shows a consistent fall in wheat procurement over the past five years. In 2021–22, 122,703 metric tonnes were procured against a target of 1.85 lakh metric tonnes. That dropped to just 54.65 metric tonnes in 2024–25, with a lower target of 40,000 metric tonnes.
This year's target stands at 38,000 MT—but not a single kilogram has been purchased so far.
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