India Rice procurement inching towards 10 mt

Though rice production in 2009-10 is estimated to drop by over 15 million tonne, procurement by Food Corporation of India (FCI) and state-agencies which surpassed previous year's mark last week is inching towards 10 million tonne, up from 8.7 mt achieved during the corresponding period last year.

According to data from FCI on Wednesday, procurement of rice has crossed 9.3 million tonne out of which Punjab has contributed more than 7.6 million tonne and Haryana’s contribution has been to the tune of close to 1.6 million tonne.

The procurement in other main rice growing states such as Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Chhattisgarh have also started. Till date, Tamil Nadu has contributed 21,000 tonne, Kerala 59,000 tonne and Chhattisgarh (7000 tonne).

Officials believe that procurement which has just commenced in these states will pick up in the next one month.

Meanwhile, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, while addressing Economic Editors' conference on Wednesday said flash floods in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka last month and delayed and deficient monsoon in north-western parts of the country could significantly pull down Kharif rice production.

He said the government intends to procure 26 million tonne of rice during 2009-10 while the government has stock of 15.3 million tonne of rice in the central pool as on 1 October 2009.

“Our main concern is to ensure the availability of foodgrain for public distribution system so that the impact of inflation on the common man is minimised,” he said

For offsetting losses in kharif, the government intends to increase acreage under boro (winter-sown) rice from 1.2 million hectare to 1.5 million hectare in states such as West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar and Eastern Uttar Pradesh for ensuring additional production of 1 million tonne.

The government’s rice procurement drive is carried out during October – September season and the government procures critical grains such as rice and wheat for buffer stocks and for supplies to public distribution system (PDS) besides a smaller quantity is allocated for the armed forces.

Last year the government lifted more than 33.6 million tonne rice during the same period.

With a bumper rice production of over 96 million tonne last year, total rice procurement during 2008-09 season increased by over 15% to touch a record 33.3 million tonne.

In the corresponding period, government had bought 28.8 million tonne of rice, FCI data showed.