Farmers are finding it difficult to offload their wheat stocks in Punjab and Haryana mandis due to shortage of space and bags. The problem has been aggravated with the Food Corporation of India itself storing wheat in the mandis itself.

A commission agent told Business Line : “We are finding it difficult to purchase wheat as we are running short of space and bags for storage.”

On the other hand, private traders are playing a waiting game in the hope that prices could drop below the minimum support level of Rs 1,285 a quintal.

Arrivals, too, have slumped. For example, in Karnal inflow of wheat dropped to 20,000 bags on Wednesday against 80,000 bags till last weekend. Up to now, arrivals in Karnal district this year have been a record 8.68 lakh tonnes against 6.04 lakh tonnes last year.

New wheat is currently quoted at Rs 1,285 a quintal, the minimum support price.

On the other hand, steady domestic demand is keeping desi wheat varieties firm. Demand for desi varieties in the region is good and traders are buying to meet the current levels of demand, said Mr Sewa Ram, a wheat trader.

Around 120 tonnes of different varieties of desi wheat arrived from Madhya Pradesh. The Tohfa variety ruled at Rs 2,300 a quintal, Bhojan King at Rs 2,200, Rasoi bhog at Rs 1,900, and the Nokia variety at 2,150.

On the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange, wheat for May delivery increased by Rs 3 to Rs 1,184 a quintal, it had touched a low at Rs 1,179 earlier on Wednesday. June delivery on the exchange went up by Rs 2 to Rs 1,204 a quintal.

Flour Prices

Sluggish domestic demand pulled flour prices down Rs 20 to Rs 1,280 for a 90-kg bag. On the other hand, after witnessing an uptrend last week, Chokar remained almost unchanged at Rs 640 for a 49-kg bag.

Procurement in Haryana

Government agencies and private millers procured more than 78.04 lakh tonnes of wheat till May 6. Of the total procurement, about 78.03 lakh tonnes has been procured by six government agencies, and the remaining by traders.

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