New Delhi, Feb 25 (IANS): As much as 444 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) wheat has been estimated for procurement during the forthcoming rabi marketing season 2022-23, which is more than the procurement estimate of RMS 2021-22, the government said on Friday.

Also, a quantity of 42.92 LMT rice (rabi crop) has been estimated for procurement during the forthcoming rabi crop of current KMS 2021-22 from seven rice (rabi crop) procuring states. Estimates of procurement of rice (rabi crop) from governments of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana are awaited.

This was revealed at a meeting called by the Secretary, Food & Public Distribution under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, to discuss the procurement arrangements for ensuing Rabi Marketing Season 2022-23 and rabi crop of Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2021-22.

It was attended by state Food Secretaries and Food Corporation of India (FCI) through video conference, a release from the Ministry said.

During the meeting, promotion of coarse grains, implementation of minimum threshold parameters for online procurement operations, supply of jute bags and packaging material, storage space, improving efficiency and transparency in procurement operations, and online settlement of food subsidy claims were also discussed.

The three top states in the list of procurement estimates of wheat during the RMS 2022-23 are Punjab (132 LMT), Madhya Pradesh (129 LMT) and Haryana (85 LMT).

Similarly, the state-wise list of procurement estimates of rice against the rabi crop during KMS 2021-22 was topped by (as on Friday) Andhra Pradesh (25 LMT), Odisha (10 LMT), and West Bengal (3 LMT). However, these are tentative as data from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana is awaited.