Fix target of paddy procurement: KCR to PM Modi

Hyderabad: Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Wednesday complained to Prime Minister Narendra Modi against non-fixing of procurement target for the entire year in one go by the Food Corporation of India.

The Chief Minister in his letter said that this was making it difficult for the State to plan an appropriate cropping pattern and explain the same to the farmers. He said the production of rice in Telangana during kharif 2020-2021 was 55.75 lakh metric tonnes but the procurement was only 32.66 LMT which was 59 per cent of the production. He said this was less than 78% procured during 2019-20 kharif. Such wide variations in procurement do not allow the State to implement a rational cropping pattern, he said.

To clear these confusions and fix the appropriate target for procurement, KCR said he had personally met Union Minister for Agriculture Piyush Goyal on September 25 and requested him to fix the annual target for procurement. He said even 50 days after his meeting, no policy decision has been taken.

He urged the Centre to direct the FCI to complete the procurement of balance of 5 LMT rice produced during rabi 2020-21, enhance the target for ongoing kharif from 40 LMT to 90% of the production as done in Punjab and to confirm the target of procurement for ensuing rabi.