Telangana makes plan to buy Rs 1 crore MT paddy this year

HYDERABAD: Unlike the last year's hullabaloo with the Centre over paddy procurement, the state government is ready to purchase 1 crore metric tonnes (MTs) of paddy from farmers this time in the midst of reports of a bumper output of 1.55 crore MTs. This tops last kharif season's 1.24 crore MTs.
While it is it is going to be the highest ever recorded paddy output in Telangana since the state's formation in 2014, civil supplies minister Gangula Prabhakar on Friday said the government was not only preparing to purchase 1 crore MTs, but also making plans on the additional 55 lakh MTs which could be used for other purposes.
In a normal scenario, the massive output would have been considered 'excess', resulting in a series of clashes between the Centre and state government as to who will procure paddy. Senior agriculture officials said in the current scenario, the excess stocks would be benefiting Telangana since the country has less paddy stocks and more number of states will be depending on paddy imports from Telangana.
Though Telangana itself cannot sell rice directly to other states without involving the Food Corporation of India, farmers and exporters can send it to other states by selling the stocks to interested parties, officials said.
This year's paddy acreage was also the highest in any kharif season at 24 lakh acres - last year, paddy was cultivated in 21.1 lakh acres.
The minister said the state government has already completed 50,000 tonnes of paddy procurement with the help of 6,713 procurement centres across the state.
According to agricultural scientists, this year's excessive rains wreaked havoc on other crops while benefiting paddy. "If the rains do not disrupt the procurement process and the paddy does not get wet, the expected production of 1.55 crore MTs will be met," an official said.
The Telangana government discouraged farmers from growing paddy in the previous seasons over relentless squabbles with the Centre. "However, the situation is different this time. The state would benefit because the Centre is also encouraging farmers to grow paddy," sources said.
During the first kharif season following the state's formation in 2014, the government purchased 24 lakh MTs of paddy, while the output kept growing each year after that.