Punjab paddy procurement: Amid bumper yield, tardy lifting a concern.

By Gurpreet Singh Nibber

Just 10% of the 11.10 lakh tonnes of paddy that reached Punjab grain markets in the first 15 days of the procurement season that started on October 1 has been lifted by procurement agencies, officials said, highlighting the tardy procurement of the bumper paddy crop.

This year the paddy was sown in 32 lakh hectares as compared to 31 lakh hectares in 2023 and the total produce is expected to be about 230 lakh tonnes as compared to 212 lakh tonnes in 2023.

The government officials said that “arrangements” have been made to procure 185 lakh tonnes.On ground, it appears a difficult proposition considering glut in big grain markets such as in Nawanshahr, Phagwara and Rajpura where operations have been shut till October 18, as paddy stocks are to be filled in lakhs of jute gunny bags. In many places, farmers could be seen filling paddy in gunny bags along highways as their produce is not being allowed inside markets. The officials said arhtiyas and rice millers are not actively participating in the procurement due to different reasons.

According to government officials, the rice millers have two concerns — first there is not enough space to store freshly harvested paddy and second there is no compensation for lesser rice, 60-62%, from newly introduced variety PR126 as compared to the norm of 67%.

“The PR126 variety was promoted in a big way this year as it takes lesser time to mature resulting in saving in production costs,” said Ravi Sher Singh, a paddy grower from Muchhal village, Amritsar.

He added as the variety matures early there is a sudden glut of paddy arrival in markets. The variety was sown in 42% of the paddy farms this year as compared to 22% in 2023 and in Malwa, highest producing paddy region, it was sown in about 60% of farm land.

According to rice millers, there is only 30% of the space available in godowns in Punjab for storing paddy. Unlike wheat, paddy cannot be stored in open deteriorates its quality.

The total available space in Punjab godowns is 212 lakh tonnes and of this, 168 lakh tonnes (120 lakh tonnes rice, 48 lakh tonnes) of the previous seasons already occupies the storage space. “We can’t do much as there is no transport of food grains from the state,” said a government official, blaming the Food Corporation of India (FCI) not transporting wheat and paddy procured in previous seasons to other states.

Bharat Bhushan Binta, who heads the association of rice millers in Punjab, said they are not willing to procure paddy as there is no mechanism to compensate them for loss of quality due to moisture content or lesser rice production for per quintal of PR126 paddy processed.

“These rice varieties give less rice than the prescribed limit (67%). We want that issue also to be addressed,” said Binta. The rice millers get shelling money for milling from the government if they give 67 kg for a quintal of paddy. In case of PR126, in which 60-62 kg of rice is milled for a quintal of paddy, the millers have to provide additional rice to adhere to the norm.Binta said that because of these issues only 10% of 5,500 rice mills in the state have signed agreements with the government to process and store paddy.

The commission agents, who are demanding a fixed 2.5% of the minimum support price of Rs. 2,320 as commission as against a fixed amount of ₹46 per quintal, claimed that procurement agencies are not purchasing stocks due to lack of storing space. “We are supporting the procurement process but agencies are not buying,” Vijay Kalra, who heads the association of commission agents, said.

On Monday, chief minister Bhagwant Mann and officials of the state food department met Union food minister Pralhad Joshi and apprised him about the need to vacate the godowns in Punjab for freshly procured paddy. A statement released by the state government after CM’s meeting with Joshi said that the CM told the central minister that stockpile is adversely affecting the procurement and lifting of paddy from mandis thus leading to resentment among farmers. “Responding to issues raised by the chief minister, Joshi agreed to transport 120 lakh metric tonnes of paddy from outside the state by March 2025,” said a state government spokesperson.

According to Balbir Singh Rajewal, who heads a faction of BKU, the state government and the Centre has not committed to lifting the entire paddy produce. “We would be holding a protest outside the CM’s Chandigarh residence on October 18 to press for our demands. And, if no solution is provided, we would again block the highways and rail routes in the state,” he said. With the panchayat polls getting over on Tuesday, the state food and civil supplies officials expect the arrivals to pick in coming days.

This article has been republished from The Hindustan Times