The Civil Supplies Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy reviewed the comprehensive plan for procuring paddy during the Kharif 2024-25 season with the Cabinet sub-committee on Paddy Procurement. Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu, Industries Minister D. Sridhar Babu are also seen.
| Photo Credit: Special arrangement
Civil Supplies and Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy announced that separate procurement centres for procuring fine variety rice (sanna rakam) and non-fine variety rice (doddu rakam) as the Government has decided to provide ₹500 bonus per quintal for fine variety from this year.
The respective district Collectors will come up with the details of the venues for both the varieties and the farmers will be given complete information.
The Minister reviewed the comprehensive plan for procuring paddy during the Kharif 2024-25 season with the Cabinet sub-committee on paddy procurement. Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu, Industries Minister D. Sridhar Babu, Civil Supplies Principal Secretary and Commissioner D.S. Chauhan, Principal Secretary of Agriculture Raghunandan were among those present.
The Committee deliberated on various logistical aspects, including hiring godowns, securing bank guarantees from rice millers, milling charges, and addressing the drying loss issues related to paddy.
Mr. Uttam Kumar Reddy highlighted the Government’s intention to encourage .farmers to cultivate fine variety by offering an additional ₹500 per quintal above the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for paddy delivered to designated Paddy Procurement Centres (PPCs). The fortified fine variety rice will be distributed through the Public Distribution System (PDS) starting in January 2025, depending on availability.
He said to streamline the procurement process, the Agriculture Department will share crop data with the Online Paddy Management System (OPMS), ensuring accurate information on the paddy varieties grown in the State. This system will enable efficient procurement, making payments directly to farmers’ accounts.
Similarly, the Civil Supplies Department would run a comprehensive awareness campaign to educate farmers about the ₹500 per quintal incentive. In addition, training sessions will be conducted for PPC staff to ensure the correct identification of the fine variety.
Special equipment such as digital grain calipers and husk removers will be provided to assess the quality of fine variety and the bags containing fine variety will be stitched with red thread for easy identification, while bags of other varieties will be tied with green thread. Both varieties will be transported separately from the PPCs to the mills, where rice millers will store them in designated sections to avoid any mixing of varieties.
The Minister said to resolve disputes, the State Government has set up committees at the Revenue Divisional and District levels to handle any issues related to paddy variety identification. Payments to farmers, including the additional incentive, will be processed through the e-Kuber platform managed by the Finance Department.
Addressing the millers, Mr. Reddy encouraged rice millers to be honest in their dealings, assuring that the Government would be fair and just in its approach. The Minister warned that the State Government would not tolerate any diversion of PDS rice. Rice Millers present their challenges
In the same meeting, the Rice Millers Association of Telangana presented a detailed report to the Cabinet sub-committee, outlining the critical challenges currently facing the industry. The association highlighted the reduced availability of paddy, with the paddy milling percentage having dropped to 14% this year. Large mills have witnessed a 55% to 60% decline in their operations due to reduced paddy procurement.
The association also noted that inflation has increased production costs to ₹300 per quintal. At the same time, the industry continues to grapple with the 1% levy imposed by the Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD).
Additionally, millers are facing severe financial strain due to delayed payments from the Government, with dues pending since the 2016-17 procurement operations, causing cash flow disruptions that have hampered their ability to manage daily operations. The imposition of penalties for non-compliance with Fair Average Quality (FAQ) standards has compounded the financial pressures on millers.
The Rice Millers Association appealed for immediate financial and regulatory relief from the Cabinet sub-committee, stating that the future of the rice milling industry — and the broader agricultural sector — could be at risk without Government intervention.
In response, Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu assured the millers that their issues would be discussed at the highest levels of the State Government. He said the Cabinet sub-committee would submit a report with recommendations to Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy for final approval.
Published – October 10, 2024 10:56 am IST