Guide · Grading

FCI FAQ wheat: what Fair Average Quality means, and how a sample is checked against it.

FAQ, or Fair Average Quality, is the reference most wheat in India is traded against. Each limit is a percentage of the sample, so how you measure matters as much as the limit.

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FAQ stands for Fair Average Quality. The Food Corporation of India and state agencies use an FAQ specification for wheat bought at minimum support price, and many private buyers use it as a reference too. A lot that stays within every limit is FAQ; a lot that exceeds one may be refused or bought with a value cut, depending on the rules in force that season.

The limits, as built into GrainGrade’s rulepack

Parameter (FCI FAQ wheat)Limit
Foreign matter≤ 0.75%
Other foodgrains≤ 2%
Damaged≤ 2%
Slightly damaged≤ 4%
Shrivelled and broken≤ 6%
Moisture (from a meter)≤ 14%

Specifications and any seasonal relaxations are notified by the government; always check the version in force for your season and state.

How to check a sample against FAQ

  1. Draw a representative sample from the lot, not a handful from the top.
  2. Measure moisture with a meter.
  3. Separate and quantify foreign matter, other foodgrains and each class of defect.
  4. Express each as a percentage of the sample on the basis your spec uses.
  5. Compare each percentage with its limit; any one over the limit takes the lot out of FAQ.
  6. Record the result against the lot so it can be seen later.

Where disputes come from

How GrainGrade does it

GrainGrade turns one phone photo of a wheat sample into a grain count, sizes in millimetres, defect percentages and the FCI FAQ grade, with a range on every number instead of a bare decimal. The camera coaches the shot first (level, a scale marker in frame, focus and light) and refuses a bad photo with a reason in Hindi or English rather than analysing it into a wrong answer. Seven defect classes are checked, grading rules are data so a mill’s or exporter’s own spec can sit beside FCI FAQ, and every sample is saved to its lot with a shareable PDF or WhatsApp report. GrainGrade is in development: counting is built and measured; the other figures on the product page are design targets. Moisture is not visible to a camera and is entered from a meter reading.

Questions

What is FAQ wheat?

Fair Average Quality: wheat that stays within every limit of the FCI specification for foreign matter, other foodgrains, damaged, slightly damaged, shrivelled and broken grain and moisture.

What is the moisture limit for FCI FAQ wheat?

GrainGrade’s rulepack uses 14%, measured with a meter. Check the specification notified for your season, as relaxations are sometimes announced.

What happens if wheat is below FAQ?

Depending on the rules in force, the lot may be refused or bought with a value cut.

See it on your own data. GrainGrade — Wheat graded from a photo. Book a 30-minute working session with an engineer.

General guidance, current as of the date above. Figures and examples are illustrative unless a source is linked.