Paddy Acquisition – This is the whole story of the paddy acquisition struggle, not just the wrath of consignees, rice millers and farmers – The story of paddy purchase struggle, not just the wrath of consignors, rice millers and farmers Angry NTC

Not only farmers were angry over the paddy purchases, brokers and rice millers also staged protests. Everyone is resentful and angry for a reason. Farmers in Punjab have taken to the streets amid slow government procurement. The market is full of paddy but it is not being purchased as the government has no space to store it. The epicenter of the fight remains Punjab, where the largest paddy procurement so far has gone to central reserves, known as buffer stocks. Hence, a war of words started between the party and the opposition parties in Punjab over the paddy procurement issue. On the other hand, the central government must also provide clarification. After all, is the agitation over paddy acquisition in Punjab instigated by politics, or is there something real? Let’s verify it.

Punjab has been procuring the largest amount of paddy. This time he also received the highest purchase target. So far, Rs 10,628 crore has been transferred into the bank accounts of local farmers as rice MSP. Despite this, why is the Punjab government in the dock and the central government has to issue clarifications again and again? If we look in the mirror of data, the picture becomes very clear.

How many have been purchased so far?

According to officials from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, the country has completed procurement of 9.246 million tons as of October 29. However, for the 2024-2025 Kharif marketing season, the Center has set a target of acquiring 72.402 million tonnes of rice. Among them, Punjab alone has set a maximum procurement target of 185 million tons. As of the evening of October 29, Punjab had purchased 4.984 million tons. By law, the largest quantities of rice in the country are purchased here. However, this only achieved 27% of the national target.

Farmers claimed that due to reduced government procurement this year, farmers were forced to sell to traders at throwaway prices. Therefore they suffer losses. This is why farmers in Punjab are unhappy with the slow pace of paddy procurement. Farmers accuse the state government of being lax in procurement of paddy. That is why many farmer unions have opened a front against the Aam Aadmi Party government. On the other hand, Punjab’s younger brother Haryana purchased 37.23 lakh tonnes of paddy, about 62% of its target.

Center’s clarification on Punjab issue

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution has issued clarification on the paddy procurement issue in Punjab. It is said that the state will start purchasing rice from October 1, 2024. For this purpose, 2,927 markets, including 1,000 temporary yards, have been opened in Punjab. Apart from this, 4,145 millers have applied for rice milling. The state is working towards the target of acquiring 185 million tonnes of paddy by the end of November.

How many farmers in Punjab have benefited?

According to the ministry, 2,61,369 farmers in Punjab have sold paddy at MSP so far. In return, he received Rs 10,627.63 crore. While there are 51,20,405 farmers registered to sell paddy in the country. So far, Rs 17,158 crore has been transferred as MSP into the bank accounts of 4,43,203 farmers in the country. On the other hand, Rs 5,480.32 crore has been transferred so far into the bank accounts of Haryana farmers selling rice to the government.

Now let’s talk about middlemen and rice millers. Agents are an important part of the market system. Their job is to buy rice, clean it, bag it, sew it and then lift it. In return, the government gives commissions. Their MSP commission is fixed at 2.5%. The commission agent claimed that the government was not granting the full commission. On the other hand, the Haryana government said that before receiving any order from the Indian government, the state government itself was aware of this and fixed the commission at Rs 55 per quintal instead of Rs 46.

What is the commission for a commission agent?

Bajrang Garg, provincial president of the Haryana State Trade Commission, said that the agency commission for MSP has been fixed at 2.5%. But the government shelved this provision and fixed the commission at Rs 46 per quintal. At the rate of 2.5%, a commission of Rs 58 will be paid per quintal of paddy worth Rs 2,320. Now the state government is discussing to provide only Rs 55 till the Centre’s order. This is an atrocity against the middlemen.

What are the problems with rice mills?

The government will certainly purchase paddy, but it will not store it. The rice has been stored. After the rice is purchased, it is sent to the rice mill for grinding. The factory has to deliver the prepared rice to Food Corporation of India (FCI). The rice yield rate (OTR), the standard for recovering rice from the paddy, is fixed. Its average is 67%. However, some people now question that the OTR of rice variety PR-126 is 4-5% lower than normal varieties. Some millers said that one quintal of paddy can produce only 62 kg of rice. In this case, the fixing standards should be relaxed appropriately to avoid losses to the mill owners.

Center for research

Union Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Minister Prahlad Joshi said factory owners are demanding a reduction in the OTR currently set at 67 per cent by the FCI. The low OTR of rice variety PR-126 was mentioned. However, since 2016, PR-126 variety of rice has been used in Punjab. This problem has never occurred before. It was reported that the OTR of hybrid varieties was significantly lower than that of PR-126. However, the OTR standards set by the Indian government are uniform across India. In this context, IIT Kharagpur took up a research mission to review the current OTR of rice. Work is underway in many states, including Punjab.

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