The purchase in Uttar Pradesh has been reported at 1.62 lt against 3.42 lt and in Rajasthan at 2.52 lt from 4.80 lt year-ago | Photo Credit: PTI

With relaxations in quality of the grain to be purchased from Punjab approved on Friday, the Centre’s wheat procurement is expected to get further momentum even as over all purchase so far was nearly 40 per cent lower. After similar relaxations approved earlier for Haryana, the purchase has already moved up in the state.

Total wheat procurement has reached 51.34 lakh tonnes (lt) until April 16 after the purchase season began from April 1, as against 83.57 lt in the year-ago period.

According to the latest data, the procurement in Punjab reached 5.94 lt as against 5.27 lt year-ago and in Haryana 37.74 lt from 29.89 lt. The daily procurement on April 16 also was higher at 3.48 lt as against 2.66 lt year-ago in Punjab and 8.91 lt as against 6.36 lt year-ago in Haryana.

The wheat purchase in Madhya Pradesh is very low at 3.43 lt from 40.08 lt due to delayed start despite the Centre approving the purchase to start from March 15 instead of normal April 1. The state government has been implementing additional bonus over and above the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rs 2,585 per quintal to procure wheat in Madhya Pradesh.

The purchase in Uttar Pradesh has been reported at 1.62 lt against 3.42 lt and in Rajasthan at 2.52 lt from 4.80 lt year-ago, the data show.

Relaxation for Punjab

Meanwhile announcing the relaxation for Punjab, Union Food Minister Pralhad Joshi said the decision will help reduce hardship for farmers and prevent any distress sale of wheat.

“The relaxations will be applicable from the commencement of rabi marketing season (RMS) 2026–27.The request for relaxation in wheat procurement due to untimely rainfall was received on April 9 and promptly thereafter, teams were deputed on April 10 to assess the situation across all districts. Based on field inputs, the Centre has approved relaxations for wheat procurement in RMS 2026–27 in all districts of Punjab and the Union Territory of Chandigarh,” Joshi said.

After the norms revised, the permissible limit of ‘luster loss’ in wheat would be 70 per cent across Punjab and Chandigarh. Similarly, shrivelled and broken grains limit for has been relaxed from the existing 6 per cent to 15 per cent. However, the combined limit for damaged and slightly damaged grains will remain capped at 6 per cent.

The Centre has asked the State agencies to keep wheat procured under relaxed specifications separately stored and accounted. “Any deterioration in stock quality during storage will be the responsibility of the respective state governments,” it said.

Unseasonal rains in March and April led to higher moisture content in wheat grains, along with issues such as shrinkage and loss of luster. As a result, a large portion of the crop was falling outside the prescribed quality standards, affecting the procurement process.

Other FAQ norms which remain unchanged include moisture in excess of l2 per cent and up to l4 per cent will be discounted at full value. Stocks containing moisture in excess of l4 per cent are to be rejected, the Centre has prescribed. Within the overall limit specified for foreign matter (0.75 per cent), the poisonous weed seeds shall not exceed 0.4 per cent of which Dhatura and Akra (Vicia specres) shall not be more than 0.025 per cent and 0.2 per cent by weight, respectively.

Similar relaxations have already been made for wheat procurement in Rajasthan and Haryana, though not exactly same as in Punjab.

Published on April 17, 2026