New Delhi: A delegation of Members of Parliament, Members of the Legislative Assembly, and senior leaders from Odisha, led by Union Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, met with the Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Shri Pralhad Joshi, today to press for an increase in the parboiled rice procurement limit for the state.
The delegation formally requested that the Food Corporation of India (FCI) increase the limit for procuring parboiled rice from the current 20 lakh metric tonnes to 25 lakh metric tonnes. This request is aimed at protecting the financial interests of farmers in the state as the Kharif marketing season’s procurement process has already begun.
Shri Pradhan underscored the significance of the farming community, stating, “Our farmer brothers are the backbone of the economy. The Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has always accorded the highest priority to the interests and welfare of farmers.” He stressed that the prompt implementation of an increased procurement quota by the FCI would bring immense relief to Odisha’s farmers and would concurrently strengthen the national food security system.
This plea comes amidst persistent challenges in Odisha’s paddy procurement system, which is currently grappling with a substantial surplus of parboiled rice, locally known as ‘Ushuna’ rice. Despite the central government recently revising Odisha’s overall rice procurement target for the Kharif and Rabi seasons to 58 lakh metric tonnes, the state continues to face logistical bottlenecks. Reports suggest that low demand for parboiled rice in traditional consuming states has led to slow lifting by the FCI, resulting in a rice backlog and a shortage of storage space in the state’s godowns.
Additionally, the state government has set an ambitious paddy procurement target of 93 lakh metric tonnes for the Kharif Marketing Season 2025-26, equivalent to 63 lakh metric tonnes of rice. The procurement operations, which are scheduled to commence in the state later this month, are shadowed by the dual challenges of managing the parboiled rice surplus and the structural issue of a deficit in raw rice required for local public distribution system (PDS) consumption. The state administration has previously had to take measures like temporarily supplying extra rice under the PDS to clear the surplus stock. The leaders are hopeful that the Union Minister will approve the increased parboiled rice limit to ensure a smooth and farmer-friendly procurement cycle for the current season.