"Next year also this Government will give a substantial rise in MSP for wheat and rice," Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar during Question Hour in Parliament. Pawar added that the Government had fixed the MSP for wheat at Rs 850 per quintal on March 15 at a time when wheat was being traded at Rs 743.72 per quintal in the international market.

However, Pawar defended the decision for wheat imports saying procurements by government agencies were barely sufficient to meet Public Distribution System (PDS) demand and a buffer was needed to meet emergencies.

"It is a question of our food security. We cannot compromise that," said Pawar.

As against the estimated procurement of 15.15 million tonnes, the Government has been able to procure only 11.1 million tonnes of wheat this year. Pawar defended the shortfall saying procurement under MSP is an open-ended exercise, where the state support is very important.

In this context, Parliament was informed that the wheat procurement of several of the major wheat producing states has been negligible. While Haryana and Punjab contributed about 3.35 and 6.78 million tonnes respectively during the procurement of 11.1 million tonnes by the Government, the contribution of major wheat producing states like Bihar, UP, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Bengal has been minimal.

Even wheat procurement by big private players has not been much as compared to the total production estimates of 74.89 million tonnes.