Stocks of wheat and rice with the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and state agencies have plunged to a five-year low to 37.6 million tonne (MT) at the beginning of this month against 72.1 MT a year ago.The FCI had wheat stock of 21 MT on November 1, a six-year low, against the buffer requirement of 13.8 MT for the beginning of the next year. However, the current stock of 16.6 MT of rice is more than double the buffer requirement of 7.6 MT for January 2023.
Food ministry officials said that despite decline in stocks, overall stock position in the next couple of months is expected to improve as around 17.6 MT of rice is yet to be received from the millers.“We have sufficient stocks to meet requirements under various schemes such as the National Food Security Act and Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (free ration scheme),” an official told FE.Meanwhile, kharif paddy procurement stood at 24.2 MT on Sunday, marginally higher than the year-ago level. Currently, paddy procurement is being carried out in Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Haryana and Tamil Nadu.
According to food ministry officials, over 1.35 million farmers have received Rs 47,700 crore as minimum support price (MSP) since the commencement of procurement on October 1. The target is to procure 77 MT of paddy in the kharif season across key producing states.With the inclusion of rabi paddy, the government agencies are expected to purchase 90 MT of paddy during the 2022-23 season (October-September). Paddy to rice conversion ratio is 67%. After paddy is procured from the farmers by FCI and state agencies, it is handed over to millers for conversion into rice.In the previous year, rice procurement was a record 60.2 MT. Rice production had hit a record 130.29 MT in the 2021-22 crop year.
ALSO READ FCI to offload wheat to check prices
Meanwhile, sources said that FCI is likely to offer 2-3 MT of wheat under the Open Market Sale Scheme to bulk buyers to curb rising prices of the grains in the current marketing year (2022-23), despite the stocks hovering around the buffer.As per latest assessment, the wheat stocks held with FCI by March 31, 2023, would be around 11.3 MT against a buffer of 7.4 MT. “We are considering a proposal to offer wheat to bulk buyers from our stocks,” a food ministry official said.Due to lower production and higher global demand, FCI’s procurement in the 2022-23 season fell by more than 56.6% to only 18.8 MT against 43.3 MT purchased from the farmers in the previous year. According to the department of consumer affairs’ price monitoring cell data, the modal retail price of wheat and flour (atta) on Monday rose to Rs 28/kg and Rs 35/kg, respectively, from Rs 23/kg and Rs 28/kg three months ago.
