Rice procurement in Punjab, Haryana ends, pan-India purchase up 13% in October-November
Rice procurement reached 194.14 lakh tonnes by november 30, up 12.7 percent as higher purchases in telangana, tamil nadu, and andhra pradesh offset declines in punjab and uttar pradesh. early arrivals aided faster procurement, while several states showed sharp increases. however, odisha and madhya pradesh reported no purchases so far.
Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh have compensated for the drop in rice procurement in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh until November 30 in 2025-26 season, helping the Centre buy 194.14 lakh tonnes (lt) in the first two months, up by 12.7 per cent from 172.24 lt in the corresponding period last year.
Rice marketing season begins from October and the procurement period varies from state to state depending on the cropping pattern followed in each state.
Due to early arrival of the paddy this year, the Centre allowed procuring agencies in Punjab and Haryana to begin purchase from mid-September and in Tamil Nadu from September 1.
Punjab, which has been the top rice contributor to the Central Pool stock, purchased 104.80 lt, which is 4 per cent lower from 109.17 lt year-ago and Haryana got 30.4 per cent more rice at 35.96 lt against 27.58 lt year-ago, official data show. However, sources said that there could be correction in the data as total purchase in entire season last year in Punjab was 116.13 lt and in Haryana was 36.17 lt.
The government has set a target to buy 463.49 lt of rice from the Kharif-grown crop in 2025-26 season (October-September) which included 36 lt from Haryana and 116 lt from Punjab. The pan-India actual procurement in entire 2024-25 was 545.22 lt.
Rice procurement in largest producing state (in Kharif season) Uttar Pradesh also dropped 18.8 per cent to 6.05 lt from 7.45 lt. Similarly, in Chhattisgarh the purchase was 2.1 per cent lower at 6.63 lt from 6.77 lt after procurement began from November 1 which is scheduled to continue until January 31.
On the other hand, purchase in Tamil Nadu has increased 188 per cent to 9.86 lt from 3.42 lt year-ago and in Telangana by 52.2 per cent to 17.05 lt from 11.2 lt. Andhra Pradesh too has reported 111 per cent rise in purchase to 5.11 lt from 2.42 lt until November 30.
In West Bengal, the Centre has been able to buy 2.93 lt rice this year whereas it used to be none at this time as harvesting in the state is delayed compared to northern states. Uttarakhand has also reported 54.2 per cent increase in purchase at 4.78 lt from 3.1 lt.
Procurement was scheduled to start from November 1 in Odisha and Madhya Pradesh, also among the major contributors to the Central Pool stock managed by the Food Corporation of India (FCI). But, no grain has been purchased in these two states. Madhya Pradesh government has reportedly requested the Centre to buy directly from farmers through its own agencies.
According to the agriculture ministry, rice production in 2025-26 Kharif season is estimated to be record 124.50 million tonnes (mt), up by 1.4 per cent from 122.77 mt year-ago.
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Source : The Hindu Business line
