Telangana Readies Storage for Record Paddy Harvest

Hyderabad: With Telangana having record paddy production of 148 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) and state government is targeting procurement of 80 LMT this Kharif, the civil supplies department is banking on increasing storage capacity not only from Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC), but Cotton Corporation of India (CCI). It also hopes for the FCI (Food Corporation of India) to dispose of its godowns, mostly stockpiled with boiled rice varieties.

In wake of the concerns about shortage of storage capacities, officials are ensuring the process of logistics and storage is smoother this time. The department’s higher-ups in recent months have requested both state and central warehousing corporations to urgently make room for the Kharif’s produce.

As part of the arrangements, the CWC has already pledged 60,000 MT capacity on Thursday, besides State Warehousing Corporation (SWC) offering room for 1 LMT. “With heavy rains damaging cotton crops in most parts of northern India, even the cotton bales stock is being cleared from the existing warehouses for fulfilling the demand across the country. These will make room for at least 10 LMT capacity in the coming days,” told an official to Deccan Chronicle.

Clearing the apprehensions about shortage of capacity, the officials said that unlike the presumptions of stock accumulation each month at least 5 LMT from FCI are cleared through railway wagons sending across the districts.

However, in an urgency to make room as part of preparedness the civil supplies has written to FCI to make some extra room. While the government remains optimistic about procuring 80 LMT given the crop damage this monsoon in different districts and competitions from millers (50 to 60 LMT) the conservation figure remains 65 LMT to 70 LMT. “We are just ensuring that the department gears up for 80 LMT this time. But the fact is the consistent rains have damaged the crop mostly the some fine varieties in districts including Nizamabad and their production has dropped drastically,” added the official.

On October 15, the civil supplies minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy said Telangana had created history by achieving a record paddy yield of 148.03 lakh metric tonnes, the highest ever in independent India, surpassing all previous production figures. “Telangana has emerged as the leading paddy-producing state in India and this Kharif season marks an all-time record in both cultivation and procurement. The upcoming operation will be the largest grain procurement ever undertaken by any state or country,” he said.

The minister noted that the government would procure 80 lakh metric tonnes of paddy, equally divided between 40 LMT of fine (sanna) and 40 LMT of coarse (doddu) varieties. The paddy was cultivated over 66.8 lakh acres and the total procurement value is estimated at Rs.22,000 crore.