Kharif paddy procurement by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and state government agencies has got off to a brisk start since commencement of Minimum Support Price (MSP) operations, due to the early arrival of the crop this year.

Till Monday, 8.81 million tonnes (MT) of the cereal were purchased from farmers in the ongoing 2025-26 kharif season (October-September) , which is 96% higher than a year ago. Of course, these are still early days to assess the pace of procurement. 

Punjab, the biggest contributors to central pool, agencies have purchased 3.21 MT of paddy till Monday which was 224% more than the same period previous year.

In Punjab, MSP purchase of paddy had commenced on September 15 earlier than the usual October 1. The state is likely to contribute 17.5 MT of paddy to central pool stock.

In Haryana, agencies have procured 4.42 MT of grains under the MSP operation which was 41% more than previous year.

Meanwhile, more than 0.9 MT of paddy is purchased from farmers in Tamil Nadu by the government agencies, which was double than last yer while the procurement operations have commenced in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir

Paddy arrivals in mandis in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are during October-November period while arrivals of grain take place during December –January, in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and other key producing states.

Last month, the government had fixed a rice procurement target of 46.35 MT (68.95 MT in terms of paddy) for the kharif marketing season 2025-26 , marginally lower than the rice purchased in the 2024-25 season.

According to sources, the central pool rice stock currently is over 44 MT, more than three times the buffer norm of 10.25 MT for October 1. Officials said this stock includes over 9.32 MT of grain yet to be received from millers.

High rice stocks are attributed to the FCI and state agencies procuring 52–53 MT annually from farmers under MSP in recent years, while supplying around 36–38 MT for the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) free ration scheme.

In the 2024-25 season, the FCI and state agencies have purchased 55.92 MT — 47.98 MT (kharif) and 7.94 MT (rabi) — of rice equivalent to paddy from farmers at the minimum support price (MSP).

In 2023-24, the agencies had bought 52.44 MT of rice — 46.65 MT (kharif) and 5.78 MT (rabi).

In May, the Cabinet approved a 3% increase in the MSP of paddy to Rs 2,369/quintal for the 2025-26 kharif season (July–June), compared to the previous year.

After procurement by the FCI and state agencies, paddy is handed over to millers for conversion into rice. The paddy-to-rice conversion ratio is 67%.