Rice contribution from Punjab and Haryana to the central pool has come down by 12 lakh tonne in this procurement season, sources in the state food and civil supplies department said.
Procurement of rice in both the states is slowly drawing to a close. However, sources said overall, there is no cause for worry as this year was exceptional because of heavy rains and rise in area under basmati rice.
?Heavy rains caused massive flooding of several areas damaging grain filling. Increase in area under basmati rice, after farmers opted for late sowing basmati in view of floods, also affected paddy crop this season as yield of basmati varies from 12-15 quintals per acre against 28-30 quintals per acre in non-basmati,? director general, agriculture, Haryana, Ashok Yadav told FE.
Sources in the state food and civil supplies department told FE that Punjab, which contributes 35% of rice to the central pool, has procured 127.5 lakh tonne, down 10 lakh tonne from last year. Similarly, Haryana?s paddy contribution to the central pool has come down to 24.50 lakh tonne as against last season 26.36 lakh tonne.
In Haryana, Hafed had contributed 1.12 lakh tonne of rice to the central pool, Food and Supplies Department 99,837 tonne, Haryana Agro Industries Corporation 30,868 tonne, Haryana Warehousing Corporation 15,592 tonne, Confed 17,194 tonne and Food Corporation of India 16,727 tonne to the Central Pool. The remaining 9,757 tonne of rice have been delivered by millers.
According to figure of state agriculture department, area under basmati in Punjab was 7.00 lakh hectare this year against 6.5 lakh hectare in 2009-10.