Paddy procurement by government agencies in Punjab and Haryana has been hit as commission agents (arthiyas) have gone on strike. The agents are demanding 2.5% commission on crop purchase against the existing system of a fixed remuneration of Rs 46/quintal.
Manjinder Singh, secretary, khanna mandi, Punjab, one of the biggest cereal wholesale market in the country told FE that while the basmati rice procurement by the agents have resumed, they are continuing with the strike for procurement of common variety of paddy purchased by government agencies under minimum support price (MSP) operations.
In addition, rice millers in both states have been protesting against the government decision to stock paddy with rice millers following procurement. the government’s move follows acute storage crunch because of surplus rice stocks in the central pool.
Punjab rice industry association following their meeting with the state chief secretary and other officials on Friday said onin a communication to Chief Secretary on Friday has stated that the state government should store paddy in their godowns and on its plinths. “If the government lacks sufficient storage space, it can store the paddy in mills with the consent of the owners,” according to the association’s communication.
Over 50,000 commission agents or arhtiyas in Punjab and 25,000 agents in Haryana used to receive 2.5% commission on crops procured by the government agencies. However the food ministry had fixed the commission on grian purchase at Rs 46/quintal in 2018-19, which the agents have said is economically not viable at present.
Officials said state agencies have commenced purchase of paddy in Tamil Nadu and Haryana about a fortnight back because of arrivals of early harvested varieties. So far only 0.32 million tonne (MT) of paddy has been purchased in Tamil Nadu (0.25 MT) and Haryana (only 70,781 tonne) against 1.22 MT of grain purchased during the same period last year.
State government agencies and Food Corporation of India (FCI) are aiming to buy 48.5 million tonne (MT) of rice in the current kharif season (2024-25) which officially commences on October 1 against 46.3 MT of grain equivalent (paddy converted in terms of rice) purchased from the farmers 2023-24. Kharif season accounts for around 80% of the total rice purchase during this season.
An official from Punjab, which is aiming to purchase the highest 12.5 MT of rice equivalent of paddy (18 MT) amongst the states, said that arrivals in mandis have started and there are talks going on with commission agents to call off the strike.
Key states which would be contributing majorly to the government rice procurement drives this season include – Chhattigarh (7 MT), Uttar Pradesh (4.1 MT), Haryana (4 MT), Odisha (4 MT), Madhya Pradesh (3 MT), Telangana (3.6 MT) and Andhra Pradesh (2.5 MT).
The grain surplus states, after meeting its need under the public distribution system, transfer the surplus stocks to a central pool managed by FCI.
The rice procured from grain surplus states is also used for keeping a buffer stock with FCI. After paddy is procured from the farmers by FCI and state agencies, it is handed over to millers for conversion into rice. Paddy to rice conversion ratio is 67%.