New Delhi, Feb 28 (PTI) The government on Friday fixed a wheat procurement target of 31 million tonne for the 2025-26 rabi marketing season beginning April.

The lower procurement target comes despite the agriculture ministry aiming for a record wheat production of 115 million tonne in the 2024-25 crop year (July-June).

Also Read | News Headlines for School Assembly Today, 01 March 2025: Check Important National, International, Sports, Entertainment and Business Stories.

The procurement target for rabi crops like wheat, paddy and coarse grains was fixed in a meeting with state food secretaries held on Friday here, an official statement said.

After deliberations, the wheat procurement target was fixed at 31 million tonne, rice at 7 million tonne and coarse grains at 1.6 million tonne for the ensuing 2025-26 marketing season.

Also Read | HPSC Assistant Professor Recruitment 2025: Registration Reopens on March 1 for 2,424 Vacancies, Know Steps To Apply at hpsc.gov.in.

The states were asked to take proactive steps to maximise procurement of wheat and rice in the ensuing marketing season. The states were also asked to focus on the procurement of millet to encourage the diversification of crops and enhanced nutrition in dietary patterns.

For the 2025-26 rabi marketing season starting April, the minimum support price for wheat has been fixed at Rs 2,425 per quintal.

The Food Corporation of India (FCI) and state agencies conduct wheat procurement to ensure farmers receive minimum support prices and meet welfare scheme requirements.

In 2024-25, the government wheat procurement reached 26.6 million tonne against a target of 30-32 million tonne. While this exceeded the 26.2 million tonne procured in 2023-24, it fell short of that year's 34.15 million tonne target.

In the meeting, several other initiatives related to the public distribution system and Jan Poshan Kendras were discussed.

The meeting was attended by food secretaries of various states and Union territories, senior officials from the FCI, Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority (WDRA), India Meteorological Department and the Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)