Despite initial slowdowns in procurement because of the storage crunch in Punjab last month, the government’s paddy procurement drive at the minimum support price (MSP) has picked up pace in the last few weeks.
Agencies have so far bought more than 27.58 million tonne (MT) from farmers in key producing states, 6% below the quantity procured during the first two months of the 2023-24 season.
A food ministry official said overall procurement of paddy mostly in Punjab, Haryana and Tamil Nadu had declined 22% year-on-year to 12.56 MT in October because of the storage crunch in Punjab and delayed harvesting of the crop.
With the Centre evacuating surplus rice from Punjab in a phased manner, procurement has picked up pace this month with states like Uttar Pradesh reporting higher MSP purchases.
In Punjab, which has contributed the highest 17.05 MT of paddy to the central pool grain stock, procurement by the agencies, including the Food Corporation of India and state government entities, is 7% less than a year ago. At the beginning of the season which commences on October 1, the government had fixed an estimated target of 18.5 MT for Punjab in the current season, almost similar to the last year’s figure, which is unlikely to be achieved if procurement operations winds up on Saturday.
Purchase of paddy in Haryana so far has been 5.37 MT, 7% less over the last year. In Uttar Pradesh, MSP purchases have been 1.02 MT, up 47% on year. Other states which have contributed to the paddy purchase drive include Telangana (1.58 MT), Chhattisgarh (1.05 MT), Tamil Nadu (0.5 MT) and Andhra Pradesh (0.36 MT).
As on Thursday, FCI and agencies held 28.25 MT of rice stocks, excluding 22.29 MT receivable from millers. The rice stock is against the buffer of 7.61 MT for January 1.
FCI annually supplies 38 MT for supply to the beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana or the free ration scheme.