The 2023-24 agricultural marketing year (October-September) ended with the government procuring 52.544 million tonnes (mt) of rice – 46.303 mt from the kharif crop and 6.241 mt from the rabi season. It spent over Rs 1.76 lakh crore to buy the grain from 1.07 crore farmers at the minmum support price (MSP). Though it is below target, the government is now considering ways to distribute the grain since it is much above its requirement.
The target was to buy about 52.5 mt from the kharif season and 10.1 mt from the rabi season. The annual requirement of rice was estimated at 41 mt under the National Food Security Act and other welfare schemes, before the recent adjustment on allocation for the public distribution system. The government last month allowed distribution of 3.5 mt of additional wheat in place of rice under the PDS.
There is a drop in procurement for the third year in a row after the government purchase of rice hit a record 60.2 5 mt in 2020-21 amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The rice procurement was 57.588 mt in 2021-22 and 56.86 mt in 2022-23.
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