Naveen urges Centre to evacuate surplus rice from Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has sought the personal intervention of Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Piyush Goyal for evacuation of surplus rice from Odisha for the Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2022-23.

Around 65.23 lakh metric tonne (LMT) of paddy, which is equivalent of 44.23 LMT custom milled rice (CMR), has been procured for KMS 2022-23 in Odisha till March 22 and MSP dues of about Rs 13,081 crore have been transferred to the bank account of the farmers. Paddy procurement for KMS 2022-23 will continue till March 31, said Patnaik in a letter to Goyal today.

It is expected that around 10 LMT of CMR will be procured in Odisha during the ensuing Rabi (KMS 2022-23). Thus, altogether 54 LMT of CMR is likely to be procured in the state during KMS 2022-23, Patnaik added.

“Odisha will utilize 24 LMT rice under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), State Food Security Scheme (SFSS) and other welfare schemes. The Department of Public Distribution of the Centre has issued a target of 10.33 LMT of fortified parboiled rice for acceptance by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) from Odisha during KMS 2022-23. So, Odisha will be left with around 20 LMT of surplus rice,” Patnaik said in the letter.

Non-evacuation of the surplus rice from Odisha will severely affect the paddy procurement operations in the state. Besides, this will have adverse impact on the livelihood of lakhs of farmers in Odisha, Patnaik added.

“I would request your personal intervention for issuing a direction to accept additional 20 LMT of surplus rice (17 LMT of fortified parboiled rice and 3 LMT of fortified raw rice) from Odisha for KMS 2022-23 for the interest of lakhs of farmers,” read the letter.