Govt Agencies May Procure 16.5 Mt Rice

Though rice procurement in the ensuing kharif marketing season is likely to drop because of the drought-driven fall in paddy output, government grain procurement agencies may still have to mop up around 16.5 million tonnes under the market support operations.

Rice procurement in the current year has crossed 21 million tonnes. The procurement will be undertaken by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) as well as the state agencies for contributing to the Central grain pool.

The estimate was compiled at the meeting of the food secretaries of major rice-producing states with the Union food and public distribution secretary, R D Kapur, here, today. Representatives of FCI and food secretaries of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh and Uttaranchal attended the meeting.

Though the paucity of monsoon rainfall has adversely affected paddy sowing this season, the crop in the irrigated tracts which generate much of the market surplus, has not been affected significantly. The drop in overall procurement, therefore, may not be in proportion to the fall in output, agricultural experts maintain. However, it is felt that private trade may be relatively more active in the market.

The officials also decided to start paddy procurement from October 1 as the early sown crop is likely to hit the mandis by September-end or early October in many states. Paddy sowing in Punjab and Haryana, the largest contributors to the Central pool, had begun as early as May this year.

In the current kharif marketing season (2001-02), around 20.63 million tonnes of rice (including paddy in terms of rice) have been procured for the Central pool till yesterday. This is nearly 2 million tonnes more than the previous season