Wheat fields in Punjab. File picture

Jamshedpur, April 24: Ration card holders here can now taste Russian wheat, again. After a gap of more than 10 years, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) has supplied Russian wheat for ration card holders of the state.

With FCI experiencing an acute shortage of home-grown wheat, the Russian variety has flooded the country’s godowns.

Area manager of FCI, Manoj Kumar, who is looking after supply of wheat in East Singhbhum and adjoining Seraikela-Kharsawan and West Singhbhum, said: “This time, FCI has supplied Russian wheat for the Singhbhum-Kolhan region. The nutritional quality of these cereals is very high.”

“For the past couple of years, FCI has been supplying domestically-grown wheat from different parts of the country. The wheat is mostly grown in the northern part of India, particularly Haryana, Punjab and other states,” Kumar said.

According to norms, the Bihar State Food and Supply Corporation procures foodgrain like wheat and rice from FCI and supplies it to Jharkhand and Bihar for ration card holders of three categories — below poverty line, above poverty line and Antodaya scheme — at subsidised rates.

FCI had supplied about 2,044 metric tonnes of Russian wheat to FCI’s warehouse in Burmamines. Another consignment of about 4,599 metric tonnes also found its way to the godown. Later, a fresh lot of wheat also reached the city.

FCI was set up under the Food Corporation Act, 1964, to distribute foodgrain throughout the country through public distribution systems. Besides, it also maintains satisfactory level of buffer stocks of foodgrain in the larger interest of people.