High rates of wheat not a deterrent for procurement: Pawar

New Delhi, July 16 (UNI) Prevailing high rates of wheat will not deter India in buying the required stock from international market to build its food security, said Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar here today.

''Our priority is building buffer stock of wheat for any exigency and for that price is not an issue as far as the food security of the country is concerned,'' said Mr Pawar at the sidelines of a function at the foundation day of Indian Council of Agricultural Research(ICAR).

The government has fixed a target of importing 5 million tonnes of wheat and would go to the global market as and when it required to build buffer for any contingency, he said adding that ''we are not in a hurry as the country still has good stocks of wheat that could last for 14 months''.

India is now purchasing around 5,11,000 tonnes of wheat from Cargill and other global grain companies at rate ranging between 320 to 340 dollar per tonnes. India had cancelled the global tenders only two months ago in May which offered wheat at an average of 263 dollars a tonnes, around 100 dollars less than the prevailing price.

The UPA government's latest purchases of wheat from the global market at higher prices came under bitter criticism from the opposition parties, especially from BJP which talked of a Rs 1,200 crore scam in the deal.

On July 1 the wheat stock with the FCI, the nodal grain procurement agency of the country, was less than the buffer norms forcing the government to go in for wheat purchases.

Dismissing the BJP criticism as 'humbug', Mr Pawar justified the purchase of wheat from global companies at the present rates saying that international rates went up after USDA revised estimate of total world wheat production from 623 to 610 million tonnes triggering speculation that consumption would outstrip the output.

Referring to USA's insistence on lowering of the standards for wheat import with regard to weed presence, Mr Pawar said while all other countries- Argentina, Ukraine, Canada, Australia and France - were accepting the Indian standards, America should also adhere to that.

He said the lowering of standards could have provided an access to wheat stocks at a slightly lower rates with the participation of USA in tenders. But the cost of lowering the standards could have been colossal.

Earlier, India imported wheat under PL 480 during 1960s from USA which brought an exotic weed, 'Parthinium' to the country which has overgrown several plant species.

UNI