Wheat Procurement Begins Amid Rain Concerns, Nod to Fertilizer Subsidy

April

2026

After the devastation caused to monsoon crops by 2025 floods in Panjab, unseasonal rains have raised concerns among farmers as their standing wheat crop is nearing harvest. Between 3–9 Apr, Panjab recorded an average weekly rainfall of 21.7 mm against a normal of 3.8 mm causing damage to 130K acres. Panjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann met Union Food Minister Pralhad Joshi requesting him to relax wheat buying specifications as offered by the ministry to neighboring Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Rajasthan. Panjab Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian urged the union government to send a high-level team to assess the damage caused to wheat and other crops by unseasonal rains accompanied by hailstorms. Meanwhile, on 9 Apr, Panjab Labour Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond initiated the wheat procurement season at Asia’s largest grain market in Khanna, Ludhiana district. Sond said Panjab has received a Cash Credit Limit of USD 3.3B. The state has set a target of procuring 12.2 MMT of wheat, with arrangements in place to handle up to 13.2 MMT. He assured that wheat will be purchased at the Minimum Support Price of USD 27.5 per quintal, and payments will be credited directly to farmers’ bank accounts within 24 hours. The union government has also agreed to operate special trains to lift 15.5 MMT of rice and food grains from the state, which will ease the storage crisis. However, on 13 Apr, Panjab paused wheat procurement after recent rains left crops with way too much moisture of up to 22% when the limit is 12%. A few sunny days ahead should dry the wheat. Parallelly, in a bid to revive cotton cultivation, the Panjab government has announced a 33% subsidy on seeds for farmers cultivating both indigenous and Bt cotton. Concurrently, the union cabinet has approved the Department of Fertilisers proposal for fixing the Nutrient Based Subsidy rates for the Kharif (monsoon) season 2026 on Phosphatic and Potassic fertilizers. The subsidy will be applicable for the Kharif season from 1 Apr–30 Sep 2026. The tentative budgetary requirement has been estimated at USD 4427M which is about USD 460M higher than allocated for the Kharif 2025 season (earlier coverage).