CAIRO, May 31 (Reuters) - Egypt's government has bought 4.537 million tonnes of local wheat since the start of the season on April 15, the ministry of agriculture said on Tuesday.

The government had set a purchasing target of 4 million tonnes but having reached that level last week the agriculture ministry said it was committed to buying any wheat that local farmers wished to sell until the end of the season.

The supply ministry has said it will probably end local procurement in mid-June.

Farmers are being paid a fixed price of 420 Egyptian pounds ($47.30) per ardeb (150 kg) of wheat after Egypt abandoned plans to pay farmers global rates this year.

Egypt's wheat harvest begins in April and runs through July.

Last year, the government said it procured a record 5.3 million tonnes of the grain, up from 3.7 million the year before.

(Reporting by Eric Knecht and Maha El Dahan)