New Delhi: A combination of low-yield, higher procurement by private sources and farmers holding on to their crop has seen wheat procurement by the Union government in Punjab fall to a 15-year low, according to an Indian Express report.The newspaper said that Central agencies such as the Food Corporation of India had purchased 83.49 lakh tonnes (lt) of wheat from Punjab during the rabi marketing season (April-June) as of Sunday evening. This is significantly lower than last year’s record purchase of 132.14 lt. According to the Indian Express, the last time that the government procurement was below 100 lt was in 2007, when 70.99 lt.While procurement of wheat by private sources has been higher this season – 4.61 lt on Sunday, compared to just 1.14 lt last season and 1.93 lt the season before – the overall picture that is painted is of a lower yield. In 2007, when procurement by government agencies was below 100 lt, private procurement was 9.18 lt, Indian Express said.The Russian invasion of Ukraine has caused a global food crisis, as these countries are big exporters of agricultural products. The Indian government and private traders were hopeful that a good yield from Punjab and Haryana – among the country’s top wheat producers – would allow India to export more this year. But both the states have been hit by poor yield.Also Read: Bad Wheat Harvest in 2 States May Shatter India’s Dream of Exporting Wheat this YearThe newspaper spoke to two farmers, both of whom said they were stocking their yield in the hope of selling it for higher prices at a later time. One farmer, who had sold 130 quintals of wheat at the minimum support price (MSP) to government agencies last year, said he does not plan to sell now.“I will not sell this time to the government or even private traders now. I expect to realise better prices later on. The MSP (of Rs 2,015/quintal) is anyway too low, when my yields have dropped to below 16.5 quintals per acre, from 20 quintals last year,” said Kulwinder Singh.According to the report, both these farmers had participated in the protest against the three Central farm laws. The protest, which resulted in the laws being repealed in November 2021, was spurred by farmers’ fears that the laws would signal the end of the MSP regime.“We are happy that the vyapaari (private trader) is buying more wheat from us. But if the sarkari (government) MSP and APMC mandi go tomorrow, the vyapaari will loot us,” Kulwinder told IE.As The Wire has reported, the low wheat yield was caused by weather – excessive heat and untimely rains – and also a shortage of DAP fertiliser. The relatively poor wheat production this season has dented India’s hopes to fill the gap in global wheat supplies caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine – nearly 30% of the world’s wheat is supplied by these countries.