Govt. plans to complete purchase of paddy fields in next 10 days: Uttam Kumar Reddy

Civil Supplies Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy (centre) holds a meeting on procurement of paddy from Hyderabad on Sunday as others look on. | Photo credit: By arrangement

HYDERABAD

Civil Supplies and Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy has warned rice millers and others engaged in paddy procurement this season against deducting the weight of produce brought by farmers in the name of chaff and other wastage as the government is against any move that would cause losses to farmers.

In a meeting held here on Sunday to review the ongoing procurement of paddy with civil supplies department officials and district collectors (through video conferencing), the minister said the government has revised the procurement amount to 75 million tonnes against the 90 million tonnes planned earlier on the basis of rice arrivals at shopping centres.

He noted that paddy rice production this Rabi season is estimated at 1.41 million tonnes against the earlier estimate of over 1.5 million tonnes. He said the government has already purchased 51 million tonnes from farmers against the Centre’s target of buying 52 million tonnes.

The minister said that the government has paid ₹8,750 crore to farmers for the paddy field procured so far and said that procurement would be further intensified over the next 10 days to ensure that every grain that reaches malls/markets is purchased without delay. He directed the district collectors and civil supply officials to complete the procurement operations in the next 10 days.

He explained that this special drive was launched against the backdrop of unprecedented agricultural production, surge in arrivals at shopping malls, severe labor shortages, heat conditions and unseasonal rains threatening standing stock in the markets. He said the total arrival at the shopping centers is expected to reach 75 million tonnes (LT) and assured farmers that they will procure the entire 75 LT despite operational and financial pressures.

The minister said the production of 140.81 LT of paddy in this Rabi season was possible from a record crop coverage of 65.91 lakh acres. Ensuring that every grain imported to supply centers is purchased, including rain-soaked rice, so that no farmer suffers any loss due to adverse weather conditions.

Asking the authorities to complete the purchase of 8.78 LT of paddy fish that had already arrived in 72 hours, the minister said that as of May 23, about 58.79 LT of paddy fish had arrived at shopping centers and 50.01 LT of it had already been procured, or 85% of the total arrivals. He said another 16 LTs are expected from late collection areas over the next 10 days. The Civil Supplies Department was operating in mission mode with a daily procurement target of 3 LT.

The minister said that an additional storage capacity of 7 LT has been leased recently to support the procurement operation and said that night shift procurement operations and inter-district transport coordination have been put in place to speed up picking and unloading at the factories.

He explained that many migrant hamalis and rice mill workers from West Bengal and Bihar had gone to their home states during the recent assembly elections and did not return in time, resulting in a shortage of manpower, which significantly slowed down procurement and transportation.

Published – 24 May 2026 23:33 IST