The Centre on Wednesday said it has discontinued the sale of wheat and rice to states under Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) with effect from June 13 to maintain adequate buffer stock and control price rise amid concerns of kharif crop being impacted due to expected shortfall in monsoon rains.
This was informed by Minister of State for Food and Consumer Affairs Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.
"Considering expected deficiency in rainfall caused by El-Nino as speculated by IMD due to which Kharif crop production in country may be adversely affected, and in order to control inflationary trends and to maintain adequate stock levels under central pool for distribution under National Food Security Act and other welfare schemes..., the sale of wheat and rice under Open Market Sale Scheme (Domestic) for State Governments, including Tamil Nadu, has been discontinued with effect from June 13," she said.
Replying to a separate question on wheat, the minister said the procurement of the crop has been 262.02 lakh tonnes at minimum support price (MSP) during the rabi marketing season 2023-24 (April-March), which is 39.43 per cent more than 187.92 lakh tonnes in the previous year.
"The stock position of wheat under the central pool is 301.45 lakh tonnes as against the buffer norms of 275.80 lakh tonnes as on July 1 2023. It is evident that stock level of wheat is much above the buffer norms requirement," she said.
The procurement of wheat last year was 187.92 lakh tonnes.
Also Read
Centre stops sale of rice, wheat under OMSS to state to check price rise
Premier League: Arsenal breaks record, signs Rice for 105 million pounds
Premier League: Arsenal breaks record, signs Rice for 105 million pounds
India mulls banning exports of most rice varieties as local prices surge
Govt further cuts reserve price of FCI wheat to Rs 2,150 per quintal
Q1 a washout, exporters pin hope on North America for a turnaround
T-bills cut-offs remains steady, as liquidity conditions remain unchanged
LIC offloads over 2% shares in Baja Auto via open market transactions
Razorpay offers savings on overseas bank transfers for Indian exporters
Insurers gave fake invoices when quizzed on tax credit claims: Officials
"Due to early summer and geopolitical situation, there was a rise in global prices of wheat. However, farmers across the country benefitted from the higher market rates as the majority of farmers sold their produce to private traders at higher market rates," the minister said.
State governments of Karnataka, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu have requested for wheat and rice under OMSS (D) Policy, which was not acceded to due to the discontinuation of the sale of wheat and rice to states under OMSS(D) 2023, the minister said.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)