New Delhi, April 2: The Congress-led government at the Centre is caught between the devil and the deep sea over grain prices.

Farmer groups and political parties are demanding an increase in the procurement price of wheat even as the Centre is trying to check an inflationary spiral fuelled by rising grain and food prices.

Sukhbir Singh Badal, the head of the Shiromani Akali Dal that rules Punjab, said: “Our farmers should get global prices for the wheat and rice they grow.”

The global price for wheat stands at over Rs 1,800 a quintal and paddy at about Rs 2,800 a quintal. The government had last year set a procurement price of Rs 1,000 a quintal for both and is likely to increase this by offering a bonus of Rs 100 a quintal.

Badal added: “If the government is unwilling to buy at these prices, then private traders should be allowed to pick up grain. Farmers should not suffer.” The Akalis say they will go on the war path if their demands are not met.

Mahendra Singh Tikait’s Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) wants wheat prices to be raised to over Rs 1,600 a quintal.

“The cost of production is about Rs 1,100 a quintal, which is all that the government is offering. We want a 50 per cent profit on top of that, which is what even M.S. Swaminathan has recommended,” says Ajmer Singh Lakhwal, a functionary of the BKU, which has significant support in western Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.

Top food ministry officials say it is impossible to give in to such demands and fuel further price rise, “especially as inflation has crossed a 14-month high of 6.68 per cent”.

State-run agencies buy both wheat and rice to supply grain at subsidised prices through ration shops and create a buffer against sudden crises in food availability.

But ignoring the demands totally could mean farmer protests across the traditional grain belt — Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab. The Congress, which sought to establish its pro-farmer credentials by announcing a huge loan write-off, would not want that.

Its farmers’ cell chief, R.S. Surjewala, said: “There should be a substantial increase... we will tell the government to increase (the price) by Rs 100-200 a quintal. The Akali demands are politically motivated.... When they were part of the ruling coalition, they never increased wheat prices significantly.”

Grain prices have risen by as much as 30 per cent over the past year in the open market. With yields lower than before and more farmers opting to sell to private traders, the government had to import wheat at high prices and sell it at a subsidised rate.

Till some time ago, the government was saddled with huge grain stocks. But with wheat procurement coming down in the past two years, stocks have reduced.