Stored rice leaves little space for wheat

Ruchika M Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 14

The “unusually high” paddy procured in October last year is posing a problem for the government procurement agencies now. The shelled rice being delivered to the FCI is taking up the storage space, leaving little space for the wheat being procured now.

Even as an inquiry by a central agency into the paddy purchase made from Punjab in the kharif marketing season (KMS) 2020-21, which was beyond the estimated production, is underway, the additional 28 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of rice delivered to the central food agency is a cause for concern. As against an average 108 LMT of rice that the state delivers to FCI, the rice being delivered this year is expected to be 136 LMT.

In October last year, 202.78 LMT of paddy was procured from the state as against 163.82 LMT purchased in 2019-20. The crop-cutting experiments pointed to much lower figures of paddy production in the state, giving rise to suspicion that cheaper paddy was bought by unscrupulous dealers from Bihar and UP to sell it at MSP of Rs 1,888 per quintal.

FCI sources said the additional rice (28 LMT) was taking up the storage space. Prem Goel, a Sunam-based miller, said millers were at the receiving end as the FCI was not taking delivery.

A senior FCI official said of 175 LMT of covered space, only 35 LMT is available for wheat. Of 112 LMT of CAP storage, 65 LMT is vacant.

Punjab is preparing to procure 130 LMT of wheat, of which 120 LMT will be given for the central pool to FCI after the state keeps over 9 LMT for its public distribution. Thus, there is a shortage of space for the current year’s wheat stock.

Officials in FCI and state Food and Supply department said in order to create space for the new stock, they are working with the Government of India to fast track the movement of foodgrain.