Export or perish

The Government will begin the new financial year from April 1 with its wheat stocks at around 23 million tonnes (mt) – more than thrice the required minimum buffer and strategic reserve of 7 mt for that date. Worse, this is even before the new crop starts arriving in the mandis. The current weather conditions, especially an extended winter, indicate it would be yet another bumper one. That, together with the higher minimum support price (MSP) payable this time, may result in an all-time-high official procurement of 42 mt, going by the Food Corporation of India’s (FCI) projections.

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