Centre Allocates Less Wheat, More Rice for PM's Poor Welfare Grain Programme

Due to the sudden rise in temperatures, the wheat output is likely to fall this year, prompting the government to allocate 7.1 million tonnes of wheat for the programme as against the last year's 18.2 million tonnes.

Mayank Bhardwaj

centre allocates less wheat more rice for pm s poor welfare grain programme

FILE PHOTO: Farmers use a combine to deposit harvested wheat into a tractor trailer, on a field on the outskirts of Indore, in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, India, March 22, 2022. Photo: Reuters.

New Delhi: India will allocate more rice instead of wheat for a food welfare programme that entitles millions of poor to five kilograms of free grain per month, according to a federal government order.

The allocation of wheat for the Prime Minister's Poor Welfare Grain Programme has been cut to 7.1 million tonnes from 18.2 million, the government order said.

The allocation of rice has been raised to 32.7 million tonnes from 21.6 million, it said.

India's wheat output looks likely to fall in 2022 after five consecutive years of record harvests, as a sharp, sudden rise in temperatures in mid-March cut crop yields in the world's second-biggest producer of the grain.

(Reuters)

This article went live on May fourth, two thousand twenty two, at fifteen minutes past three in the afternoon.

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