The Roller Flour Millers’ Federation of India has projected the wheat output at 110.65 million tonnes for this year, slightly above the 109.63 million tonnes produced in 2024-25, after factoring in recent weather damage.
The agriculture ministry earlier estimated the production at 120.21 million tonnes, up from 117.94 million tonnes in the previous year, before the adverse weather struck.
“While the federation has estimated wheat production of 110 million tonnes, the figure given by the agriculture ministry prior to the rainfall is 120 million tonnes. The reality will be somewhere between 110 and 120 million tonnes,” Chopra said, addressing an event organised by the federation.
There was moderate to high impact on the wheat crop in nine states (Punjab, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra) due to unseasonal rainfall and hailstorm between February and April, according to the annual survey released by the federation.
The government has procured 16.4 million tonnes of wheat so far in the ongoing rabi marketing season (April-March) and raised its procurement target to 34.5 million tonnes from an earlier goal of 30 million tonnes.
Procurement targets have been raised in Madhya Pradesh (from 7.8 million tonne to 10 million tonne), Uttar Pradesh (1 million tonne to 2.5 million tonne), Rajasthan (2.1 million tonne to 2.35 million tonne), Bihar (18,000 to 1,80,000 tonne) and Uttarakhand (1,000 tonne to 50,000 tonne), and the government has relaxed procurement norms for all four states except Uttarakhand.The procurement target for other states remains unchanged.
The government has permitted exports of 5 million tonnes of wheat and one million tonnes of wheat products in phases. However, Chopra said, shipments have been slow due to price parity issues.
The secretary added that the government plans to release a new open market sale scheme policy for wheat within the next two months, and urged millers to play a more active role in wheat procurement rather than relying on the scheme for supplies.
The government had a wheat stock of 22.2 million tonnes as of March 31.