Lucknow, July 14 -- Despite being India's top wheat producer, Uttar Pradesh has once again fallen behind Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and even Rajasthan in procuring this food grain under the Minimum Support Price (MSP) system this season, according to the government data. The state managed to procure just 10.27 lakh metric tonnes (MT) of wheat - less than one-fifth of its 60 lakh MT target - highlighting serious gaps in its procurement strategy and farmer engagement. According to the Central Food Grains Procurement Portal under the department of food and public distribution, U.P. bought wheat from only 1.43 lakh farmers, disbursing Rs 2,509 crore as MSP. This amounts to a farmer participation rate of just 31%, despite having over 4.6 lakh farmers registered on its procurement portal. In comparison, Punjab converted over 94% of its 7.71 lakh registered farmers into actual participants, procuring a record 119.19 lakh MT of wheat and releasing Rs 27,779 crore in MSP payments. Madhya Pradesh followed with 77.71 lakh MT from 9 lakh farmers (of over 15.35 lakh registered), and Haryana with 72.34 lakh MT from 4.44 lakh of its 7.8 lakh registered farmers. Rajasthan, too, fared better than U.P, achieving a 70% participation rate and procuring 21.28 lakh MT of wheat from 1.72 lakh farmers. Experts attribute U.P's underwhelming performance to several factors, including poor incentives compared to private traders, who offer competitive rates and faster payments. U.P, according to former director, agriculture (statistics) Rajesh Gupta, produces aro- und 32% of India's wheat every year. "One reason for low procurement in UP may be less lucrative procurement policy vis-a-vis other states. Moreover, UP is also the most populous state requiring more wheat for consumption," he said. Uttar Pradesh's wheat production this year has been put at 414.39 lakh MT. Uttar Pradesh principal secretary, food and civil supplies, Ranvir Prasad attributed low wheat procurement in the state to a better price having been offered by pri- vate players to farmers, and this he said as it benefited farmers. "Moreover, states like MP and Rajasthan offered bonus over the MSP while Punjab has a different procurement policy under which the government purchases wheat from farmers through aratiyas (private grain merchants)," he said. He claimed the government did its best to encourage farmers to sell their wheat at the MSP and this resulted in one lakh MT of wheat purchase than the last year....