After TS, Odisha targets Centre over paddy procurement

Hyderabad: After the TRS government targeting the Central government over denial of parboiled rice, now the Odisha government has targeted the Centre over the same. The Odisha's Biju Janta Dal (BJD) took the turn to raise the voice. BJD MP Amar Patnaik on Saturday has questioned the Centre's decision not to procure parboiled rice from the State despite its huge export potential.

In a letter to union Food Minister Piyush Goyal, the MP said non-basmati rice including parboiled rice, has been exported to 152 countries, the combined value of which is $2,307.39 million. Further, the official data furnished by the Director General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics under union Ministry of Commerce and Industry revealed that approximately $3,000 million of non-basmati rice was exported every year from 2017-18 onwards until last year. In the last six seasons, export of parboiled rice has increased from 34.42 lakh MT in 2015-16 to 61.75 lakh MT in 2020-21, he added.

"Since there is such a huge export potential, it is not understandable as to why the Centre and Food Corporation of India (FCI) are refusing to procure the surplus parboiled rice from Odisha, which can also be fortified if required for export to other countries," Patnaik questioned.

The lifting of parboiled rice from Odisha has been a problem for the last two seasons. Even nutrition added fortified rice was not being procured by the FCI. Currently, in the Kharif season 2022, the surplus parboiled rice is expected to reach 11 lakh tonnes. However, the FCI has refused to procure the same, putting farmers of Odisha in a precarious condition. While Telangana produces parboiled rice only during Rabi (Yasangi) season, Odisha produces parboiled rice during both Kharif and Rabi seasons. Along with the TRS, the BJD MPs also raised the issue in the Parliament on several occasions.

On April 11, The Telangana Rashtra Samithi party's key leaders from ZPTC to MPs protested against the Central government to mount pressure over paddy procurement in the State. The TRS has already conducted a series of protests in the State against the Central government this week. In the last phase of protest, the TRS leaders have reached the National Capital. The Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao will hold protests shortly with all the MPs, MLAs, MLC, MPTCs and ZPTCs heads.

The TRS workers were seen removing the flexis and banners of BJP put up at Ashok Nagar Delhi. The BJP has planned to hold Deeksha as a counter to TRS Deeksha in Delhi. Both parties are holding the dharnas on the paddy procurement issue. Both parties are blaming each other for not buying paddy from the farmers. The TRS is holding protests over 'One Nation One Procurement' policy whereas the Hyderabad.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister Errabelli Dayakar Rao warned the Central government not to test the patience of the farmers. He said that it is a shameful thing for State BJP chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar to ask CM KCR to step down if the government cannot purchase paddy. He said that the State farmers are aware of the schemes that are implemented for the sake of the farmers.

Between the protests by BJP in Hyderabad and TRS in Delhi, reports reveal that the paddy farmers are falling prey to rice millers' exploitation in the Telangana State. While all eyes are on the TRS big dharna against the Centre on paddy procurement in Delhi on Monday, the paddy growers are on the verge of losing nearly Rs 3,000 crore as the millers are forcing them to sell the paddy at distress prices. Perhaps first time in Telangana, the paddy farmers are facing big difficulty to sell their produce below the MSP (Minimum Support Price) in the Rabi season.

The disappointed farming community is expecting some relief from Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao who is likely to take part in the big dharna in the national capital. The State government was supposed to open paddy procurement centres on April 1 and buy the produce from the farmers directly during every farming season. The government has announced the closure of procurement centres in the current Rabi season after the Centre turned down the State's plea to procure paddy directly in place of raw rice. Millers in Nalgonda, Suryapet and Kamareddy district have been buying paddy below the MSP from farmers. Farmers are forced to sell paddy for Rs 1,500 to Rs 1,600 per quintal as against Rs 1,900. The millers have formed syndicates in Miryalaguda in Suryapet where they produce paddy in huge quantity every season. In old Nalgonda district, the farming community goes for paddy in two seasons as they have abundant water resources through canal system under Nagarjuna Sagar project. T Ravi Kumar from Ramapuram in Chilkuru mandal of Suryapet district said that he cultivated paddy in his 10 acres of land and now selling the produce at lower prices as the State government did not open the procurement centres. He said KCR's call to stop paddy cultivation in Rabi was against the farmers interest. It was the government's responsibility to make arrangements for alternative cropping before the farmers sowed paddy. In this season, the paddy was cultivated in 30 lakh acres of land and the total produce is above 70 lakh metric tonnes. Millers entered agreement to buy 20 lakh metric tonnes of paddy before the beginning of the season. Farmers were left in the lurch after the State and the Centre stopped procurement. Taking it as an advantage, the millers are exploiting the farmers. The growers of superfine rice varieties such as Chintla and HMT are also not getting MSP as millers are paying Rs 1,800 per quintal as against Rs 2,200 MSP in the procurement centres. From next week, paddy farmers in Warangal, Nizamabad and Karimnagar will also have to go to the millers to sell the produce at the distressed prices. It is estimated that a farmer will incur a loss of atleast Rs 5,000 per acre for not getting MSP on paddy this year. It will be around, Rs 3,000 crore loss to the entire farming community which cultivated paddy in Rabi this year. Nearly 1,000 raw rice mills , most of them located in Suryapet, Nalgonda and Warangal districts are busy procuring paddy and the stocks are under the process of making raw rice. "Once the procurement is over, the millers will create artificial scarcity of old rice in the open market and increase the prices," said a farmer.