India’s state agencies and Food Corporation of India (FCI)
have together procured around 12.52 million ton of rice in the 2012-13
procurement season that started from October till Dec 05, almost 5.9% more than
the same period last year.
However, the data showed that procurement has not started in
Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal, all big rice producing states.
Leaders of major political parties raised the
issue of low procurement of rice in eastern India, one of the major producing
regions, in Parliament.
The government assured that a team would be sent to assess
the situation and take corrective action. Overall, of the 22.45 million ton of
rice that has arrived in the markets across the country, almost 18.22 million tons
have been procured by the government.
India annually procures around 35-38 million ton of rice for
the central pool to distribute it at cheap rates for the Public Distribution
System (PDS). In 2012-2013, the government has targeted to procure around 40.1
million ton of rice for the central pool, around 15% higher than the actual
procurement of 2011-2012.
As on November 1, 2012, the government has around 68.3
million ton of food grains in the central pool which included wheat and rice,
while the storage space available with it was around 71.4 million ton, which
also included covered area plinth and storage's with state governments.
Courtesy: Business Standard
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