The Karnataka government is likely to reduce the annual levy rice procurement target following statewide protests by rice millers.
According to official sources, the state government is working to reduce levy rice collection target to 1.5 lakh tonne from 2.5 lakh tonne this season.
The state government has enforced the rice levy order from November 3 to procure around 33% of rice produced in the state to transfer it to national food grains procurement pool managed by Food Corporation of India.
The levy rice collected from the state governments would in-turn be distributed under public distribution system (PDS) across the country at subsidised rates to ration cardholders.
The mill owners’ protest in Karnataka comes in the wake of the lower price offered by the state government for levy rice compared with the existing market price. The government is offering only Rs 1,241 per quintal against the current market price of Rs 1,600, said Paranna Munavalli, president of Karnataka Mill Owners Association. He also said that the government suddenly raised its levy rice collection target to 2.5 lakh tonne from one lakh tonne that would lead to mismanagement in the domestic retail rice market.
Generally in the past, the government used to procure low quality rice of ‘Hamsa’ and IR-64 varieties, but the farmers reduced cultivation of these varieties due to slump in demand as the levy rice procurement stood at lower level of one lakh tonne all these years.
In fact Karnataka farmers have started cultivating premium ‘Sona Masuri’ variety owing to growing demand for the variety in the domestic market.
Now in the absence of low quality rice, the farmers have to supply ‘Sona Masuri’ as levy rice that would lead to huge loss.