Government procurement of rice better than last year but behind the set target
The government’s rice procurement for the 2024-25 Kharif marketing season has reached 458.40 lakh tonnes, a 5% increase from last year but still short of the 495.60 lakh tonne target. With procurement ongoing in five states, the government aims to address surplus stock and rising storage costs while targeting 70 lakh tonnes for the Rabi season.
iGrain India – The government’s rice procurement for the 2024-25 Kharif marketing season has shown improvement compared to last year, but it is still behind the set target.
As of February 28, 2025, the government has procured 458.40 lakh tonnes of rice, which is 20 lakh tonnes (5%) more than the 438.40 lakh tonnes procured in the same period in 2023-24. However, the procurement still falls short of the target of 495.60 lakh tonnes.
The Union Agriculture Ministry has projected a record-breaking rice production of 1,179.30 lakh tonnes in the current Kharif season, and the government has already procured 38% of this total. Procurement is still ongoing in five states.
However, the Ministry has not yet released a revised estimate for the total rice production for the entire 2024-25 marketing season, which includes both Kharif and Rabi crops.
For context, the government agency, Food Corporation of India (FCI), has an economic need of approximately 410 lakh tonnes of rice to support various welfare programs, but its current stock is much higher than this requirement.
This surplus is leading to increasing storage and operational costs, prompting the government to take measures to reduce the excess stock.
The government has also set a target of procuring 70 lakh tonnes of rice for the upcoming Rabi marketing season, and the total rice procurement for the 2023-24 marketing season was 525.40 lakh tonnes .
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Source : Investing.com
