New Delhi, Mar 27 (IANS): The Central government on Saturday informed that the wheat procurement period in Punjab has been rescheduled on the request of the state government. Accordingly, wheat procurement in Punjab will now begin from April 10 and will continue till May 31 in the upcoming Rabi marketing season.

The Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution said in a statement that the request made by the Punjab government for rescheduling the wheat procurement period due to late maturity of crop and surge in Covid-19 cases in the state has been approved by the government of India. The new wheat procurement period is from April 10 to May 31, instead of the earlier scheduled period from April 1 to May 25, the ministry said.

A total of 427.363 LMT of wheat has been estimated for procurement during the forthcoming Rabi marketing season 2021-22, which is 9.56 per cent more than the 389.93 LMT procured during RMS 2020-21.

The government has estimated to procure around 130 lakh tonnes of wheat for the Central pool from Punjab, the second highest quantity after Madhya pradesh at 135 lakh tonnes for this season.