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Irrigation and civil supplies minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy and agriculture minister Tummala Nageswara Rao on Tuesday met Union consumer affairs, food and public distribution minister Pralhad Joshi in New Delhi and urged him to raise the rabi 2025-26 rice procurement target from 35 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) to 54 LMT for Telangana

The 54 lakh metric tonnes of rice is equivalent to 80 lakh metric tonnes of paddy. They also sought permission to deliver the entire quantities in the form of boiled rice, as rabi paddy is suitable for parboiled rice milling.

Uttam and Tummala told the Union minister that the Centre had fixed the procurement target at 35 LMT of rice, equivalent to 51.47 LMT of paddy. The state has now procured nearly 29 LMT more paddy than the quantity covered under the approved target.

“Farmers should not suffer because of lower procurement targets fixed by the Centre. Despite severe operational challenges, including heatwave conditions, shortage of hamalies, storage constraints, transportation bottlenecks, overlapping maize arrivals and unseasonal rains, the state ensured uninterrupted procurement at the minimum support price (MSP) and according to Fair Average Quality norms,” Uttam told Pralhad Joshi.

The two ministers also sought an additional 60 days for completion of pending rabi 2024-25 custom milled rice deliveries and a further 120-day extension for kharif 2025-26 deliveries to FCI. “The future procurement targets, particularly for kharif 2026-27, should be aligned with production and procurement estimates submitted by the state govt,” Uttam urged Joshi.They also highlighted the financial burden Telangana has been carrying due to procurement beyond the targets approved by the Centre. Telangana had procured 69.50 LMT of paddy over and above the quantities covered under the Centre’s targets in the last three crop seasons, resulting in an additional MSP-related financial burden of Rs 16,446 crore on the state exchequer.The ministers’ delegation urged the Union govt to recognise the changed agricultural realities in the state and support its farmers by approving the enhanced procurement target, permitting boiled rice deliveries and rationalising future procurement norms.

Source : indiatimes