Telangana Wants To Increase Rice Procurement

The state government has urged the Centre to increase the Kharif procurement target for 2025-26 to 53.6 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of rice, equivalent to 80 LMT of paddy, in view of an expected bumper harvest.

Civil supplies minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, in a letter to Union food minister Prahlad Joshi on Tuesday, said that the Centre has approved only 36 LMT of rice (53.73 LMT of paddy) for the current kharif marketing season. He sought immediate intervention to enhance the quota and address several related issues pending with the Union Centre and Food Corporation of India (FCI).

The minister pointed out that paddy procurement in Telangana had grown exponentially and the state had been taking up procurement operations on behalf of the Centre by availing bank loans and incurring heavy interest to protect farmers from distress sales.

With favourable monsoon conditions this season, paddy production is estimated at 148.30 LMT. Weakened export demand due to low international rice prices is likely to push more farmers to sell at procurement centres under MSP, necessitating a higher quota, he said.

Uttam Kumar Reddy also flagged severe storage constraints. Out of FCI’s total capacity of 22.61 LMT in Telangana, about 21.72 LMT is occupied, leaving just 0.89 LMT for ongoing deliveries. This, he said, has forced millers to halt operations and caused loss of work for labourers. He requested hiring of additional godowns or allocation of more rakes to move stocks to other states.

On milling, the minister asked the Centre to modify its order requiring all balance custom-milled rice (CMR) from Kharif 2024-25 to be delivered as parboiled rice. He said most un-milled paddy is with raw rice millers and the state is prepared to supply boiled rice from the Rabi season instead. He urged that the boiled rice target of Kharif 2024-25 be shifted to Rabi 2024-25 and permission given to deliver CMR in both raw and boiled form according to availability.

Seeking additional allotment, Uttam Kumar Reddy said that against a Centre-approved quota of 51.47 LMT, the state had procured 74.23 LMT of paddy during the current Rabi season, which is better suited for boiled rice. He requested an extra 10 LMT of boiled rice allocation to complete CMR deliveries quickly. He also asked for a three-month extension beyond October 31, 2025 for Rabi CMR deliveries since 20.24 LMT remains pending.

Uttam Kumar Reddy urged the minister to take up these issues personally to ensure farmers are not burdened and procurement operations run smoothly in Telangana.

This article has been republished from The Deccan Chronicle.