Private traders import 44 lakh tonnes wheat in Apr-Feb FY17

New Delhi: Private traders imported 44.10 lakh tonnes of wheat during the first eleven months of the last fiscal, the government said today.

"The government has not imported wheat since 2008. However, private traders have imported 44.10 lakh tonnes of wheat from April 2016 to February 2017," Minister of State for Agriculture S S Ahluwalia said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

He said the government has raised import duty on wheat to 10 percent with effect from March 28.

"To ensure remunerative prices to farmers, several steps are taken by the government such as fixing Minimum Support price (MSP) every year and procurement of wheat from the farmers," he said.

The minister informed that the government had wheat stock of 94.29 lakh tonnes at the beginning of March as against the buffer norm of 64.60 lakh tonnes as on April 1.

The wheat stock is likely to improve in the coming months when Rabi crop arrives in markets, Ahluwalia said.

India's wheat production is estimated at record 96.64 million tonnes in the 2016-17 crop year (July-June) as against 92.29 million tonnes in 2015-16 on the back of a good monsoon.