117 LMT rice expected, storage available for 15 LMT as of now

As much as 117 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of rice is expected to be produced in Punjab from the 180 LMT of paddy projected to arrive in the mandis during the ongoing kharif marketing season. However, storage space to accommodate only 15 LMT produce is currently available in the state.

With paddy reaching mills and rice delivery expected to begin by December, storage availability for the produce may rise to 30 LMT. The Food Corporation of India (FCI) plans to move 8-10 LMT of rice every month from Punjab’s godowns to other states until June-July. Even then, rice deliveries from the mills will have to be staggered, delaying some shipments until July. Traditionally, shelled rice is to be delivered by the end of March.

FCI, Punjab, General Manager B Srinivasan told The Tribune that though deliveries might be slightly delayed, there was no cause for concern. “The tendering process is on to create additional covered storage for 46 LMT rice. We are targeting some of these godowns for use by next year,” he said. The storage was more comfortable this year as compared to last year, when space for only 1 LMT produce was free at the start of the procurement season.

It is learnt that till date 140 LMT of previous years’ rice stocks is stored in the godowns of the state. Rice is always stored in covered godowns, which have a capacity to store 180 LMT of foodgrains. Other than the 140 LMT of rice stored in the godowns, 25 LMT of wheat is also stored in some of these.

Meanwhile, in the 15 days of paddy procurement, only 3.34 LMT of paddy arrived in the mandis till Tuesday. Of this, 3.13 LMT has already been purchased. The purchase of paddy by private players, though minimal at 3,000 metric tonnes, is getting farmers higher prices than the MSP of Rs 2,369 per quintal. The private players have so far purchased this non-basmati paddy between Rs 2,395 and Rs 2,410 per quintal.

While paddy arrival has been bare minimal in Pathankot and Fazilka, the highest arrival has been in mandis of Patiala, Amritsar, Mohali, Kapurthala and Fatehgarh Sahib. Across the state, 95 per cent of the paddy that has arrived in the mandis has been purchased, though lifting of grains from the market is yet to pick up pace.