Rice procurement target unlikely to be raised much

With adequate stocks of rice in the central pool and the possibility of low production due to uneven rains, the Centre is unlikely to substantially increase its annual rice procurement target for the 2012-13 crop marketing season starting October.

In 2011-12, the government had targeted procurement of about 35.31 million tones (mt) of rice for the central pool, of which about 34.47 mt was purchased till mid-July. The target for 2011-12 was 7.8 per cent more than the 32.75 mt in the previous season.

For 2012-13, however, officials said there wasn’t much scope of raising the target. As on July 1, rice stocks in the central pool stood at about 30.70 mt, about 14.3 per cent more than in the year-ago period. “We are getting the procurement targets from different states. Once we receive all of these, the final figure would be out,” said a senior official. He added recently, central government officials had held a meeting with representatives of major rice producing states to finalise arrangements for the kharif rice procurement season.

The government, through its procurement agency, Food Corporation of India, purchases 30-35 per cent of the total rice produced in the country every year. This is purchased at the minimum support price determined by the government. In 2010-11, common grade rice was purchased at Rs 1,080 a quintal, while grade ‘A’ paddy was purchased at Rs 1,110 a quintal.

Some officials said the possibility of a slight fall in rice production in Punjab and Haryana, owing to the long dry spell here, was also likely to impact purchases. Punjab and Haryana together contribute about 28 per cent of the total rice purchased for the central pool. In 2011-12, Punjab contributed 7.7 mt of rice to the central pool, while Haryana’s share stood at 1.9 mt. However, this year, uneven rains are expected to hit the yield of rice in both states.

According to the India Meteorological Department, till yesterday, the deficiency in the southwest monsoon stood at 68 per cent in Punjab, 73 per cent in Haryana and 32 per cent in western Uttar Pradesh. Across the country, the southwest monsoon has been about 17 per cent below normal.