Telangana procures 60 lakh tonnes of paddy in rabi season
Telangana, which accounts for 60 percent of the country’s rice cultivation in the Rabi season, has purchased about 60,000 tons of rice. As per the latest figures, the state has spent around Rs. 12,280 crore to purchase rice from 9.82 thousand farmers.
“We expect about 2-3 thousand additional tons in the next few days before we finalize the procurement process for this year,” a government official said.
The state, which had set a target of buying 84,000 tons for the spring season, lowered the target and said it would buy about 62,000 tons. The farmers raised rice in 22 out of the 28 hectares planted in the spring season.
It opened 7,192 buying centers in different parts of the state. However, the purchase was paused due to rain early on. As the procurement season draws to a close, the state government has closed half of the centers.
Preventive measures
Meanwhile, the cabinet sub-committee has started consultations to discuss the issue of pushing agriculture for at least a month to reduce milling losses and save the crop from premature rains.
The committee will hold discussions with scientists, experts and agricultural officials to discuss farm management techniques and short-term varieties that give better yields. Three bouts of heavy rain in April and May took a heavy toll on rice farmers at the time of crop harvest.
A senior agricultural scientist, who asked not to be named, told farmers to plant early. “There is no point in waiting. Go sowing as early as possible at least in areas where irrigation facilities are available. For no reason, some farmers are delaying sowing. This will have a cascading effect, pushing the harvest stage in late summer,” he said.
He pointed out that the harvest continues in the first week of June. This is when they should prepare the fields for fall planting. But, unfortunately, the spring harvest is still going on. “This has to change in favor of the farmers,” said the agricultural scientist.
rice area
The area of rice grows in the spring season despite the cold response by the Union government in purchasing parboiled rice. They planted the crop in 14.50 lakh hectares (ha) last year as against the average season area of 12.50 lakh hectares.
In the 2020-21 spring season, it purchased a record 90,000 tons. However, this sparked a row between the state and central governments over the purchase by the Food Corporation of India. With the demand for parboiled rice declining, the central government has made it clear to the state government that they will only buy raw rice.
As a result, the country bought only 51,000 tons last year. Also this year, the center said it would only buy raw rice. However, the mill owners said that the delivery of raw rice in the spring season is not feasible for them because the conversion rate (rice to rice) is very low compared to the autumn season.