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Informist, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026

 

--Govt source: Kharif rice buy aim at 47.75 mln tn from 46.35 mln tn earlier

 

By Afra Abubacker

 

NEW DELHI – Food Corp. of India's rice procurement so far in the kharif marketing season 2025-26 (Oct-Sept) has reached 46.50 million tonnes, achieving over 97% of the government's revised target, supported by strong purchases in Telangana, Haryana, and Chhattisgarh. The revised kharif rice procurement target is 47.75 million tonnes, up from 46.35 million tonnes earlier, according to a government official. 

 

The target for kharif rice procurement has been revised upwards on account of the inclusion of the Centre's new scheme of upgraded 10% broken rice procurement from Andhra Pradesh. "In the earlier target, Andhra Pradesh's 14 lakh tonnes of procurement through the new project of 10% broken rice was not included. With its inclusion, the kharif rice procurement target for the central pool is revised to 477.49 lakh tonnes," the official said. 

 

For 2025-26, the government has launched a scheme to procure 5 million tonnes of upgraded quality rice with 10% broken-grain content from five states. In previous seasons, the government has been buying rice with up to 25% broken grain for the central pool.

 

In the first phase of the scheme, the government will procure 2.0 million tonnes from Punjab, 1.4 million tonnes from Andhra Pradesh, 300,000 tonnes from Chhattisgarh, 500,000 tonnes from Odisha, and 800,000 tonnes from Haryana, another government official had told Informist earlier. 

 

The revised rice procurement target for Andhra Pradesh is 3.0 million tonnes, up from 1.6 million tonnes. The state has so far procured 2.97 million tonnes. 

 

Meanwhile, FCI has extended its rice procurement operations in Chhattisgarh till Apr. 30 from the earlier deadline of Jan. 31. Citing limited working days in January amid government holidays and pending crop arrivals, farmers in Chhattisgarh had demanded that rice procurement operations be extended by at least one month, according to media reports.

 

In Chhattisgarh, FCI has procured more than 14 million tonnes of paddy, which will give 9.39 million tonnes of rice. However, the corporation has not yet received any rice from the state for the central pool, as the entire quantity is being processed at mills.

 

Notably, the 9.39 million tonnes of custom-milled rice yet to be received from Chhattisgarh is higher than the procurement target of 7.3 million tonnes. Asked if the Centre's rice procurement target would be raised because of robust paddy procurement in Chhattisgarh, the official said not all rice is likely to reach the central pool and some would be directed to state agencies. 

 

FCI procures paddy from farmers at the minimum support price, gets it custom-milled from designated mills, and stores the rice in the central stock. The government's paddy procurement so far stands at 69.42 million tonnes. The corporation is yet to receive 42.12 million tonnes of custom-milled rice from millers. 

 

FCI is yet to receive a substantial amount of custom-milled rice from most states, including Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Punjab, and Haryana. Telangana has procured 4.81 million tonnes of rice, against the target of 3.60 million tonnes. 

 

Procurement operations for the kharif season in major paddy-growing states such as Punjab and Haryana ended by Nov. 30. Despite advancing the operations by two weeks to mid-September, Punjab's rice procurement fell short of the target. The state concluded kharif rice procurement on Nov. 30 with 10.48 million tonnes, over 90% of the 11.60 million tonnes target. In 2024-25, the state had purchased 11.61 million tonnes of rice.

 

Meanwhile, Haryana, another major rice producer, closed kharif procurement operations at 4.16 million tonnes, exceeding its target of 3.60 million tonnes. Last year, the state had procured 3.62 million tonnes of rice. End

 

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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