FCI faces stiff competition from private players for wheat procurement

The government owned Food Corporation of India (FCI) faces stiff competition from private players, including local stockists and multinational companies (MNCs) for wheat procurement due to the grain price quoting at above the minimum support price (MSP) this season in Madhya Pradesh. While the FCI is laying emphasis primarily on urban areas and large mandis in the vicinity, private players move door-to-door for collection of wheat directly from farmers by offering price higher than the MSP. Following this, FCI has also started setting up camps near major harvesting centres to ease farmers' transportation and selling fears. "So, there is a neck-and-neck competition between the FCI and private players in Madhya Pradesh where procurement has already started about a week ago. We believe, only half of quantity offered by farmers has come to the FCI while the other half goes to private players," said a senior FCI official involved in wheat procurement in Madhya Pradesh. Financial Astrology Tips

Trade sources believe that the government has mandated FCI to procure 8.5 million tonnes of wheat in Madhya Pradesh at MSP. Since wheat procurement started over a week ago, FCI has procured around 500,000 tonnes. But, the government owned agency has shown aggression this season by reaching out to farmers. According to the FCI, the agency had procured 3.99 million tonnes of wheat from Madhya Pradesh, 17.35 per cent of the total 22.96 million tonnes procured from across the country for the Rabi Marketing Season (RMS) 2016-17. For the RMS 2017-18, however, the government increased its wheat procurement target for FCI from Madhya Pradesh to 8.5 million tonnes, which the official believes would be unachievable due to higher prices offered by private players. Astrology and Numerology Trading Tips