Foodgrain Sales

Centre sets record 362.96 mt foodgrain output target for 2025-26

Agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced a record foodgrain target of 362.96 mt for 2025-26, with fertiliser supply measures and state-wise crop roadmaps

Scope for adding 7.9 million more beneficiaries under food law: Govt in RS

States can add 79 lakh more beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act that provides legal entitlement of foodgrains, the Centre said on Tuesday. The National Food Security Act (NFSA), which was passed by the Parliament in 2013, provides for coverage of up to 75 per cent of rural population and up to 50 per cent of urban population. This covers about two-thirds of the total population of the country, which comes to 81.35 crore based on Census 2011, the government said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha. "At present, against the intended coverage of 81.35 crore, the States/UTs have identified only 80.56 crore persons. Still, there is a scope of identification of 0.79 crore more beneficiaries under the NFSA," said Nimuben Jayantibhai Bambhaniya, Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. She informed that Section 9 of the Act provides that the total number of persons to be covered in rural and urban areas of the State should be calculated on the basi

Centre likely to distribute 3 months' ration in one go to clear stocks

With surplus foodgrain stocks and more wheat arriving, the Centre may allow states to lift and distribute three months' ration quota in advance to prevent a storage crunch

Govt sets foodgrain production target for 2025-26 at 354.64 mn tonnes

India is targeting 354.64 million tonnes of foodgrain production in the 2025-26 crop year starting July on the forecast of better monsoon rains, a senior government official said on Thursday. In the current 2024-25 crop year (July-June), the government had set a target of 341.55 million tonnes of foodgrain production. Foodgrains include paddy, wheat, coarse cereals and pulses. Already, the country's foodgrain production has reached 330.92 million tonnes in the Kharif and rabi seasons of the current 2024-25 crop year. The production estimates for summer (zaid) sowing are yet to be released. The foodgrain production in the summer season (zaid), sown between February and June which is between rabi harvest and kharif sowing season, stood at 16.5 million tonnes in 2023-24. Among foodgrains, the government has set a target of 147.35 million tonnes of rice production for 2025-26 crop year. Paddy is grown in all three seasons. The country is estimated to have produced 136.44 million tonne

Smart foodgrain management helps Centre keep subsidy bill under control

The government has been offloading some foodgrains in the open market at lower rates instead of giving it away for free through the PDS, besides implementing operational efficiencies

UK warns Russian strikes on Black Sea delay food supplies to Palestinians

After the collapse last year of a U.N.-backed Black Sea grain export initiative that involved Russia and had ensured safe passage of grain ships

PM launches grain storage project, other initiatives in cooperative sector

Speaking on occasion, Union Minister for Cooperation and Home, Amit Shah thanked the Prime Minister for facilitating investments to strengthen PACS

Government approves 100% packaging of food grains in diversified jute bags

The reservation norms in present proposal would further protect the interest of domestic production of raw jute and jute packaging material in India

At 36.1 mn hectares, India plants 4.3% more land with rice than last year

Higher rice planting in India, the world's second biggest producer of the grain, could alleviate concerns about supplies of the staple

Wheat export ban to continue to ensure adequate supplies in India: Goyal

The ban on exports of wheat will continue as India has to ensure adequate supplies of the foodgrain for its domestic market and keep the inflation at check, Union minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday. He said that the procurement of wheat has started and the numbers for the first week of buying are "very" satisfactory. "I could believe that we will have a good harvest despite the unseasonal rains...We do believe that we will have to ensure adequate supplies for the Indian market and once the procurement period is over, we believe that it will be important that inflation is also contained in the country and therefore it is important that the wheat exports continue to remain banned," the commerce and industry and consumer affairs, food and public distribution minister told reporters here. He is here on a two-day visit to meet leaders and businesses in order to enhance economic ties between India and Italy. India, the world's second-largest wheat producer, banned wheat exports in Ma

Wheat prices fall by Rs 5/kg after launch of open market sale: Food Secy

Union Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra on Wednesday said the prices of wheat in wholesale and retail markets have come down by about Rs 5 per kg after the Centre's decision to sell 3 million tonnes of the grain in the open market, and asserted that more steps will be taken if required to ease rates. The government is closely monitoring the prices of wheat and atta (wheat flour) and, if needed, will take more steps, including offering more wheat under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS), to bring down the prices and provide relief to consumers, Chopra told reporters here. He said the government is not considering any proposal as of now to lift the ban on wheat exports, which was imposed in May last year after a sharp fall in its procurement. "From the time the OMSS was announced in January, wheat prices have come down. Wheat prices in wholesale markets are ruling less than Rs 2,500 per quintal," he said, and hoped that the prices would fall further in the coming days. The government of

Cleaning up FCI's operations

Food distribution needs deeper reforms

Russia-Ukraine grain deal extended by four months in win for food prices

A wartime agreement that unblocked grain shipments from Ukraine and helped temper rising global food prices will be extended by four months, the United Nations and other parties to the deal said on Thursday, preventing a price shock to some of the world's most vulnerable countries where many are struggling with hunger. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the 120-day extension a "key decision in the global fight against the food crisis". Struck during Russia's war in Ukraine, the initiative established a safe shipping corridor in the Black Sea and inspection procedures to address concerns that cargo vessels might carry weapons or launch attacks. The deal that Ukraine and Russia signed in separate agreements with the UN and Turkey on July 22 was due to expire on Saturday. Russia confirmed the extension but said it expected progress on removing obstacles to the export of Russian food and fertilisers. Ukraine and Russia are key global suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil

Govt set to pitch for grain sales from public stockholding at WTO meet

The Centre's comments are significant as the G7 countries have criticised India's ban on wheat exports

Govt sets 307.33 mt foodgrain production target for 2021-22 crop year

The Centre has set a target of 307.33 million tonne of foodgrains production for the current 2021-22 crop year ending June

In poorest districts of Uttar Pradesh, 200 grain banks offer food security

Started by Kanpur's Shramik Bharti, these food centres work on a community model

Double whammy for food buyers as freight costs spike amid high grain prices

Rising costs to ship crops globally are adding to concerns about food inflation that are already at decade-highs and hitting cost-sensitive consumers in import-dependent markets

India's foodgrain production to rise 2% in 2020-21: Government

India's foodgrain production is estimated to rise 2 per cent in 2020-21 crop year to an all-time high of 303.34 million tonnes

Foodgrain production target set at record 298.3 mn tonnes for 2020-21

Rice production target has been fixed at 117.5 mn tonnes, while the wheat production target has been kept at 106.5 mn tonnes

Cabinet okays supply of 2kg extra subsidised foodgrains via ration shops

All states have been asked to take foodgrains from the Centre in advance for distribution through the PDS