NEW DELHI: Wheat procurement during the current Rabi marketing season (RMS) has crossed 296 lakh tonne till Sunday, 11% more than the entire purchase of the cereal by govt agencies last year. This puts the govt in a comfortable position to meet the statutory food security requirement and for market intervention to check price rise.As procurement will continue till June end in some wheat-producing states, the govt is hopeful of taking the total purchase to more than 300 lakh tonne. What’s more interesting is that while Punjab and Haryana — two major wheat producing states — have reported less procurement this year as compared to the last RMS, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have seen a steep increase in govt purchase.While Madhya Pradesh recorded 77.7 lakh tonne of wheat procurement till Sunday, registering a 66% rise over last year, in Rajasthan, it has almost doubled to 17.2 lakh tonne. Sources said lower procurement in Punjab and Haryana is due to increased private buying. “This year there is enough wheat for everyone, from govt agencies to private players, because of a bumper crop. Private players offering better prices than the MSP (minimum support price) is good for farmers,” said an official.The agriculture ministry has projected a record 1,154 lakh of wheat production for 2024-25. The Food Corporation of India supplies around 184 lakh tonne of the grain to nearly 80 crore beneficiaries under the PM Garib Kalyan Ann Yojna and other social welfare schemes.After achieving a record procurement of 433 lakh tonne in the 2021-22 season, the purchase by govt agencies under MSP operations fell to a low of 188 lakh tonne in the 2022-23 season because of lower output. However, it rose by around 40% to 262 lakh tonne in 2023-24.