Rice procurement by government agencies rises 21% to 28.41 MT so far this year

Rice procurement by the government has increased by over 21.30% to 28.41 million tonnes (MT) so far in the 2015-16 marketing year compared to 23.42 MT in the year-ago period, as per data compiled by Food Ministry. This increase in procurement was despite prospects of lower production due to poor monsoon. The Food Corporation of India (FCI) and state government-owned agencies undertake procurement operations at the minimum support price (MSP).

The procurement of rice from Punjab has increased to 9.35 MT from 7.78 MT while the purchase from Haryana has risen to 2.86 MT from 2.01 MT. The procurement in these two states is over. The rice purchase in Chhattisgarh has increased to 3.97 MT so far this marketing year, from 3.35 MT in the year-ago period. In Odisha too, rice purchase rose to 2.04 MT so far this marketing year as against 1.94 MT a year ago. However, the purchase in Telangana was down at 1.01 MT as against 1.54 MT in the said period.

The Centre has kept rice procurement target of 30 MT for the current marketing year, which started in October. It however expects overall rice procurement to exceed last year’s level of 32 MT.