The Food Corporation of India (FCI) plans to procure fresh stock of at least 35 lakh metric tonne (LMT) of paddy harvested during the kharif season this year. The procurement is going to commence in December first week, says R. Kiran Kumar, Manager, Mangalagiri.
The FCI and A.P. Civil Supplies Corporation together will procure the paddy from the farmers. The target is tentative and may change based on demand, Mr. Kumar tells The Hindu.
The paddy procurement will be in three categories — fortified, sortex and fortified-non-sortex. The government aims to procure 9,25,440 MT of fortified, 3,69,777 MT of sortex and 10,49,783 MT of fortified-non-sortex paddy from the 26 districts of Andhra Pradesh.
The FCI has tentatively decided to purchase custom milled rice in the following quantities: 5,06,200 MT in Krishna district, 4,38,000 in Srikakulam, 3,84,000 in Eluru, 3,42,000 in West Godavari, 2,85,000 in East Godavari, 2,64,000 in Vizianagaram, 2,41,000 in Kakinada, 2,13,000 in Konaseema, 1,91,000 in Manyam, 1,40,000 in Bapatla, 1,35,000 in Nellore, 1,24,000 in NTR district, 61,000 in Palnadu, 49,000 in Tirupati, 37,000 in Guntur, 32,000 in Anakapalli, 23,000 in Alluri Seetharama Raju, 19,000 in Prakasam, 6,000 in Visakhapatnam, 4,200 in Anantapur, 2,900 in Nandyal, 2,100 in YSR Kadapa and 600 MT in Kurnool, taking the total expected quantity to 35,00,000 MT.
The FCI has been procuring the fresh stock as and when a season completes, which is then being provided to the beneficiaries under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) in the State, he explains.
The kharif season generally starts in June and ends in October. As the farmers have started harvesting the kharif paddy crop, the FCI too started procurement simultaneously, Mr. Kumar says.
