Wheat stocks dropped, price up by 7% in one week

New Delhi: Wheat stocks maintained by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) have dropped by 4.7 per cent to 29.91 million tonnes as of June 1 from 31.39 million tonnes on the corresponding date last year.

However, rice stock increased by 21.8 per cent to touch 50.46 million tonnes against 41.42 million tonnes in 2023.

Higher stocks of rice than wheat would help the government to manage foodgrain requirements of various programmes, said an official in the Food Ministry.

However, wheat prices have shot up by 7 per cent since the last one week.

Notably, the Centre failed to achieve its wheat purchase targets in 2022 and 2023, followed by a slow start to this year's purchases.

The government had banned wheat exports in 2022 despite a rise in export demand as the Russia-Ukraine conflict led to a global shortfall.

This year, the Centre has set a target of 37.2 million tonnes., and the procurement time has been extended till June 22.

The central government sold wheat in the open market several times over the year to control prices. This led to a reduction in government stocks, said the official.

With IMD predicting a normal monsoon, the government is expecting bumper crops this year.