Rabi Season: Telangana Plans To Procure 90 LMT Paddy

As the maximum of paddy collection (72 LMT) from the latest Kharif has already been sent to Custom Milling Rice (CMR), the civil supplies department has set an eye for 90 Lakh Metric Tonnes (LMT) for this Rabi season, which is more than what was aimed during Kharif (80 LMT).

Official sources informed that similar to bumper paddy crop during Kharif, which was 148 LMT in state, even this season it is estimated that the Rabi will have a yield close to that. "We are ready with Rabi's action plan. The department is in communication with farmers and all the officials at districts have been already alerted during multiple meetings. We have also requested the Centre to provide more infrastructure facilities and an increased number of devices like paddy cleaners, moisture meters amongst others as per the latest requirements," a senior official told Deccan Chronicle.

Overcoming the major challenges of storage following Kharif's bumper crop, the paddy which was procured from farmers during the season is barely stored and sent to mills for CMR. With the hope of emptying most of the godowns and getting room for new stock, the department has raised its stakes. "We have expedited the procurement of paddy towards CMR and overcome the existing space constraints while also pursuing new storage spaces. Even the challenges of infrastructure and hamalis at MLS points are being addressed," explained the official.

On March 2, Union ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution directed the states and Union territories for advance lifting and distribution of food grains under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) to beneficiaries up to June. In view of the upcoming procurement season in the country and consequent bottlenecks faced by states and UTs for efficient logistics and storage, the ministry noted, "It has been decided that states and UTs will lift the food-grains allocated up to June, 2026 under NFSA in advance and distribute among the beneficiaries immediately. The distribution
of the food-grains lifted in advance for the month of April-June, 2026, to be completed immediately after lifting the stock of food-grains," says the directive.

For Telangana, this will be the second consecutive year where the authorities would ensure the beneficiaries will get 3-months of rice. In 2025, following the launch of Sanna Biyyam scheme the beneficiaries received the rice stock from April to June through public distribution system.