Telangana: Paddy procurement slowed down

Hyderabad: It is likely that rice procurement in Telangana will not reach the ambitious target of 10 million tonnes for the Vanakalam (Kharif) season, with around 44 lakh tonnes procured on Saturday. Due to the recent assembly elections, it is known that there has been a slight decrease in the procurement of rice with husk and the mill owners took advantage of the situation and received most of the crop directly from the farmers. Rice was cultivated in about 65 lakh acres in Telangana during the current Kharif season, resulting in an estimated production of about 1.45 million tonnes. The state government had set an ambitious target of one million tonnes for procurement of rice including husk. However, it is known that without special monitoring during the recent assembly elections, rice procurement has slowed down. In particular, mill owners appear to have taken advantage of the temporary lapse in government procurement, and acquired a significant portion of the crop directly from farmers. This change is attributed to the fact that farmers mainly cultivate good varieties of rice during the Vanakalam season, prompting millers to intervene when government procurement is temporarily reduced. There have been reports that various mill owners have recently sold the Public Distribution System (PDS) rice stocks stored in their mills. However, as per reports, they have purchased fresh rice to replenish the old stock and supply it to the state government as per the norms. “By purchasing fine quality rice with husk, we will be able to supply the promised rice to the state government and sell the excess rice with husk directly in the market,” said an agriculture official. With the Vanakalam (Kharif) marketing season underway and the beginning of the Yasangi (Rabi) harvesting season, officials now aim to accelerate procurement of rice with husk to reduce the gap between actual procurement and stipulated objectives. They will also have to prepare millers to meet the pending supply of processed rice in the state and also free up stocks for storage space before preparing to acquire rice again for the Yasangi marketing season, which is slated to begin in March. is defined. , -Abril. • Rice is cultivated in about 65 lakh acres for Kharif season. • Rice production is estimated at 1,45 million tonnes. • The target of paddy procurement by the state government is one million tonnes. • Till Saturday they had acquired 44 lakh tonnes.