After a slow start, procurement of rice has picked up pace in most parts of the country in the 2012-13 season as farmers have started harvesting their standing crop.
According to senior officials, there was a delay in harvesting of the standing paddy crop in some places as sowing was delayed because of late withdrawal of the southwest monsoon.
According to an official statement, till November 19, 2012, around 11.1 million tonne of rice has been procured for the central pool this season, around 0.99 million tonne more than the same period last year.
Senior officials from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) said that procurement has picked up in Punjab and Haryana after a slow start and also in other major paddy producing states like Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh.
Till November 19, in Punjab, state agencies and FCI had purchased around 8.30 million tonne of rice for the central pool, as against 7.63 million tonne during the same period last year.
In Haryana, the government has procured around 2.53 million tonne of rice till November 19, around 31% more than the same period last year.
In Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the government has procured 144,248 tonne and 138,963 tonne of rice.
India annually procures around 35-38 million tonne of rice for the central pool to distribute it at cheap rates for the Public Distribution System (PDS).
In 2012-2013, the government has targeted to procure around 40.1 million tonne of rice for the central pool, around 15% higher than the actual procurement of 2011-2012.
Meanwhile, across India, around 22,000 paddy procurement centres are expected to open during the current marketing year, the maximum 8,500 being in Bihar.
As on November 1, 2012, the government has around 69.6 million tonne of foodgrains in the central pool, including wheat and rice, while the storage space available with it was around 71.4 million tonne, which also included covered area plinth and storages with state governments.
