The Union government has crossed the wheat procurement target of 150 lakh tonnes this rabi, and hopes to lift about 180 lakh tonnes for the Public Distribution System, which will be the highest in five years. This will not only ease the supply-side constraints, but also have a salutary effect on wheat prices. In the last two years, the government had imported 7.3 million tonnes of wheat to augment the stocks and meet its welfare scheme requirements. Food Corporation of India (FCI) Chairman Alok Sinha on Friday said the government agencies had procured 154.22 lakh tonnes so far as against 82.33 lakh tonnes recorded in the corresponding period last year. "We hope to procure about 180 lakh tonnes at the end of the season next month.' The highest-ever procurement, however, was about 200 lakh tonnes in 2001-02. Major reasons A minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 1000 a quintal for wheat this year, against Rs 850 last year and lower procurement by private trade and multi-national companies were said to be the major reasons for crossing the target. Apart from traditional major contributors such as Punjab and Haryana, States such as Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat have returned substantial quantity of wheat to the central pool this year. Private traders and multi-national organisations have so far procured only 12 lakh tonnes, against 39 lakh tonnes last year. According to FCI officials, at best private trade may procure up to 20 lakh tonnes this year. They did not procure higher quantities because of the narrow price differential and the order on declaration of stock holding. Futures trading The ban on wheat trading in futures market has also helped. The largest quantity was procured from Punjab (82.94 lakh tonnes), followed by Haryana (46.52 lakh tonnes), Madhya Pradesh (9.51 lakh tonnes), Rajasthan (5.5 lakh tonnes), Uttar Pradesh (8.16 lakh tonnes) and Gujarat (1.13 lakh tonnes). Last year, Punjab and Haryana farmers held back some quantities of wheat for speculation. Madhya Pradesh had offered a bonus of Rs. 100 over and above the MSP. At other places, the Union government had offered a bonus of Rs. 10 a quintal to farmers who bring the wheat to FCI depots. Procurement of wheat would continue till May 15 in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. In the case of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, it would continue till June 15, Mr. Sinha said. As FCI and its agencies had a storage capacity of 250 lakh tonnes, availability of godowns would not be a problem. "If the Madhya Pradesh government runs out of its capacity, we would move some stocks in our godowns,' he added. Wheat production for this year is estimated at 76 million tonnes. Sources in FCI said at this rate of mandi arrivals (166.03 lakh tonnes), there may not be need to import wheat and the government would be able to meet the buffer stock norms till next April.