Experts said timely announcement of the minimum support price (MSP) and aggressive strategies by state agencies is helping the government procure substantial quantities of rice from the market, outnumbering private traders and millers.
Last year, during the same period, FCI and others had purchased around 16.2 million tonne of rice from farmers.
This year, as usual Punjab and Haryana have contributed bulk of the total procurement with around 9.25 million tonne and 1.80 million tonne to the central pool.
The procurement in other key rice growing states such as Chhattisgarh (1.43 million tonne), Andhra Pradesh (1.10 million tonne) and Uttar Pradesh (1.53 million tonne) have also picked up pace in the last few weeks.
The government raised the minimum support price (MSP) of paddy by Rs 100 for this season, which now stands at Rs 950 for common variety and Rs 980 for Grade 'A'.
Officials said higher rice procurement by FCI will keep domestic prices under check. The government is aiming to procure around 26 million tonne of rice this year.
For offsetting the losses in kharif rice harvest, the government is planning to increase acreage under boro rice to 1.5 million hectare from around 1.2 million hectare in states such as West Bengal,
Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar and Eastern Uttar Pradesh so that an additional 1 million tonne of the crop can be produced.
The central government starts its annual rice procurement in October and ends it around September. The grains are procured for buffer stocks and for supplying though the public distribution system (PDS).
A smaller quantity is also allocated for the armed forces. Last year the government procured more than 33.6 million tonne of rice, almost 15% more than last year, largely due to a bumper harvest of over 96 million tonne.
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