Government agencies led by Food Corporation of India and state entities have procured about 26.63 lakh tonnes of wheat till date from major producing states in the current 2015-16 marketing season. This is about a third lower than the 39.74 lakh tonnes procured in corresponding last year, according to FCI officials.

The sluggish pace in procurement is mainly on account of delayed harvest caused by an extended winter and the unseasonal rains coupled with hailstorm across key producing states starting from Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh to Punjab and Uttar Pradesh that have caused damage to the standing crop.

So far, wheat procurement is the highest in Madhya Pradesh at 19.69 lakh tonnes, a decline of 18 per cent over corresponding last year's 24.14 lakh tonnes. Similarly in Haryana, the procurement stood at 5.96 lakh tonnes, down 55 per cent over corresponding last year's 13.23 lakh tonnes. In Punjab, the agencies have procured only 8,113 tonnes as against 1.12 lakh tonnes in corresponding last year.

In Rajasthan, procurement in the current season stood at 24,500 tonnes as against 1.10 lakh tonnes in the corresponding last year. In Gujarat, the procurement stood at 15,440 tonnes, officials said.

The freak rains have impacted the quality of the produce. As a result, the Centre has relaxed the wheat procurement norms on the basis of requests received from States. "The main issue relates to the loss of lustre and higher moisture content," officials said. As per the procurement norm, the wheat grains should have lustre. However, grains with lustre loss of upto 50 per cent is allowed in Rajasthan, while the relaxed norm for Madhya Pradesh stands at 40 per cent.

Officials said the procurement of wheat with moisture content of upto 14 per cent, the maximum permissible limit for human consumption under the regulations of Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, is being allowed. However, the wheat that's arriving in the mandis has a higher moisture of up to 16 per cent. Some states are seeking a relaxation in moisture content too, sources said.

However, it could not be ascertained as to how much wheat has been procured under the relaxed standards. "It is too early to segregate and quantify the procurement based on relaxed norms," sources added.

The Centre plans to procure about 30 million tonnes of wheat in the current marketing season.

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