The 2023-24 agricultural marketing year (October-September) ended with the government procuring 52.544 million tonnes (mt) of rice – 46.303 mt from the kharif crop and 6.241 mt from the rabi season. It spent over Rs 1.76 lakh crore to buy the grain from 1.07 crore farmers at the minmum support price (MSP). Though it is below target, the government is now considering ways to distribute the grain since it is much above its requirement.
The target was to buy about 52.5 mt from the kharif season and 10.1 mt from the rabi season. The annual requirement of rice was estimated at 41 mt under the National Food Security Act and other welfare schemes, before the recent adjustment on allocation for the public distribution system. The government last month allowed distribution of 3.5 mt of additional wheat in place of rice under the PDS.
There is a drop in procurement for the third year in a row after the government purchase of rice hit a record 60.2 5 mt in 2020-21 amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The rice procurement was 57.588 mt in 2021-22 and 56.86 mt in 2022-23.
Top contributors
Latest data show that the top contributors of rice to the Central Pool are Punjab (12.414 mt), Chhattisgarh (8.3 mt), Telangana (6.386 mt), Odisha (4.817 mt), Haryana (3.949 mt), Uttar Pradesh (3.605 mt), Madhya Pradesh (2.825 mt), Tamil Nadu (2.37 mt), Bihar (2.063 mt) and Andhra Pradesh (2.038 mt).
As there has been an increase in rice purchase in Uttar Pradesh after 2017, the eastern region’s contribution has exceeded what is purchased from the western parts of the State. The eastern UP contributed 2.48 mt of rice to the Central Pool whereas the western UP has 1.124 mt.
There has been some interesting trend in procurement of millets as Uttar Pradesh has emerged as the top contributor of kharif-grown nutri-cereals to the Central Pool stock. Out of 9.79 lakh tonnes (lt) of nutri-cereals procured in the kharif season, as high as 94 per cent has been contributed by UP (3.73 lt), Haryana (2.31 lt) and Karnataka (3.12 lt).
However, Karnataka continues to be largest buyer of MSP-based purchase of Shree Anna for the whole 2023-24 (both kharif and rabi seasons). The Centre has been able to buy 4.17 lt from Karnataka for the whole of 2023-24 season. Total procurement of nutri-cereals was 12.55 lt in 2023-24 against 7.37 lt in 2022-23 and 6.29 lt in 2021-22.
Meanwhile, the Centre has procured 2.58 lt of rice for the 2024-25 season which began Tuesday as the purchase was allowed to commence early in Tamil Nadu.