Rice procurement target of 30 MT has been set by the government for the 2015-16 marketing year commencing from October. The states have been asked to open adequate purchase centres and deploy sufficient manpower in order to ensure smooth procurement operation. For the ongoing 2014-15 marketing year (October-September), the procurement of rice has already surpassed the set target of 30 million tonnes (MT).
India is estimated to have produced over 102 MT of rice in 2014-15 crop year (July-June). Target for Chhattisgarh has been kept at 3.6 MT, Haryana (2.34 MT), Andhra Pradesh and Bihar (2 MT each), Jharkhand (300,000 tonnes), Kerala (100,000 tonnes), Karnataka (95,000 tonnes) and Assam (50,000 tonnes).
The states have also been directed to furnish, on daily basis, the district-wise procurement details of previous day for Online Procurement Monitoring System (OPMS). The states will also make arrangements to publicize about Minimum Support Price (MSP) and place intend regarding packaging material to avoid last minute shortage.