In the backdrop of bumper wheat production estimates this year, the process of wheat procurement by the state agencies, such as the Food Corporation of India (FCI), in Uttar Pradesh has started and will continue till June 30. UP is the largest wheat producing state in the country and provides almost 35 per cent to the country's food basket. Of the combined target of 2 million tonnes (mt) in 2008-09, the state procurement agencies have a target of 15 lakh tonnes. So far, 1.73 lakh tonnes of wheat has been procured, Mehboob Hasan Khan, chief marketing officer (CMO), UP Food and Civil Supplies, told Business Standard. According to the latest figures, a sum of Rs 202 crore has been paid to wheat farmers towards procurement. This year, the state government has also engaged societies and sub-agents to procure wheat at a commission of 2.5 per cent on the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 1,000 a quintal, he informed. The system of commission agents for wheat procurement is already been employed successfully by Punjab and Haryana. Last year, the wheat procurement in UP was quite poor at 5.45 lakh tonnes. Some of the reasons for the poor procurement figures were late start of the buying and low MSP. This year, the state government is hopeful of meeting its target with the help of commission agents. Besides, the state government is also buoyed by record paddy procurement at 16.15 lakh tonnes against a target of 12 LT. Meanwhile, the wheat production in UP this year is likely to miss its target of 285 lakh MT due to unseasonal rainfall and hailstorm in the last week of March, Agriculture (Statistics) Department Director Vinod Kumar Singh said. Last year, UP had produced almost 255 lakh MT wheat, up from 241 lakh MT in 2005-06. The wheat crop is still being harvested and the consolidated figures would soon be collated from all over the districts, he informed. However, the wheat productivity in UP hovers around 27 quintals per hectare and is lower than other major wheat producing states, including Punjab and Haryana.