A growing crisis is looming over Odisha paddy procurement strategy as the state is facing unmanageable surplus of parboiled rice which is locally known as Ushuna rice. Adding more woes to the farmer distress the Food Corporation of India (FCI) is hesitant to accept it. The situation is set to worsen as a recent hike in the minimum support price has triggered a surge in paddy cultivation.
The state government successfully procured 92.64 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of paddy in the current Kharif season, resulting in a milled rice collection of 62.62 LMT. Moreover, this stock is predominantly parboiled rice, which the FCI says has low demand in other consuming states. FCI behind its reluctance to lift the surplus has cited the reason that other consuming states prefer raw rice (Arua rice), rather than parboiled rice. Though FCI has repeatedly been asking Odisha to Shift to raw rice production, the government has not yet issued any directive to the millers.
Non-Lifting of Surplus Pushes Paddy Procurement System into Crisis
The non-lifting of the surplus has created a substantial backlog, leaving Odisha with approximately 1.3 LMT of rice after that too after fulfilling the public distribution system (PDS) requirements. To free up storage space before the new harvest govt has increased the rice supply, by temporarily providing additional 5 kg of rice to PDS beneficiaries in 19 districts. Considering the procurement crisis in mind a plan to auction the surplus rice is on hold as authorities have not yet finalized the minimum auction price.
Further election promises are also poised to escalate after the state government fulfilled an election promise by increasing the paddy procurement price by Rs 800 per quintal, bringing it to Rs 3100. The increment in price has further intensified procurement issues as farmers started cultivating paddy in maximum quantity, signaling an even higher harvest and a corresponding rise in parboiled rice volume, raising serious concerns about future storage and disposal.
Demand for Raw Rice Necessitates the Daily Import
Despite the internal surplus of parboiled rice, Odisha requires an average of 75 LMT of rice per year. To meet the demand of raw rice among consumers, approx. 4.5 lakh quintals of raw rice are distributed under the Public Distribution Scheme. The distribution of raw rice under PDS further necessitates the daily import of hundreds of trucks of raw rice from other states, including Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and West Bengal, to meet the gap.
Now experts believe that state government need policy changes to resolve the state’s dual problem of a parboiled surplus and a raw rice deficit.
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