Telangana turns crucial for country’s paddy supply in Yasangi

A lower acreage compared to last year and depletion of the government stocks is likely to see the union government turning to Telangana for supply of paddy during the ensuing Yasangi (Rabi) season.

Hyderabad: A lower acreage compared to last year and depletion of the government stocks is likely to see the union government turning to Telangana for supply of paddy during the ensuing Yasangi (Rabi) season. Apart from Telangana, only a handful of States like Odisha, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal cultivate paddy during the Yasangi season.

At the national level, paddy cultivation was taken up in about 403 lakh hectares (995 lakh acres) during Kharif (Vaanakalam) this year. This is 20 lakh hectares (49 lakh acres) less compared to last year’s 423 lakh hectares (1,045 lakh acres). Due to delayed monsoon and erratic rains, both area and yield of paddy is said to have suffered in many States.

As per first advance estimates, officials fear that this could reduce rice production by nearly 70 lakh tonnes than last year. While the final rice production was recorded at 11.2 crore tonnes in 2021-22, it is expected to be around 10.5 crore tonnes during the recently concluded Kharif season.

Under these circumstances, the Centre is expected to turn to Telangana along with States like Odisha, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh where paddy is cultivated even during the Yasangi season.

“Of these, highest acreage in paddy cultivation can be noted in Telangana. In Yasangi 2021-22, paddy cultivation in Telangana was around 34.21 lakh acres. This year, there could be an increase of another five lakh acres.” an Agriculture department official said.

During this Vaanakalam 2022-23, paddy cultivation was taken up in about 65 lakh acres in Telangana which resulted in an estimated production of a massive 1.41 crore tonnes of paddy. Of this, the State government has proposed to procure nearly 90 lakh tonnes. As on Friday, over 28 lakh tonnes of paddy has been already procured.

The officials pointed out that the union government initially refused to procure parboiled rice from Telangana during Yasangi last year, citing excess stocks. However, it took a U-turn and agreed to procure eight lakh tonnes of parboiled rice from Yasangi stocks in July this year.

“We have been encouraging farmers for crop diversification. However, majority of farmers continue to cultivate paddy even during the Yasangi season. As the Centre has been insisting on raw rice, our supplies have gone down. But if there is a need for parboiled rice this year as well, it would be a big boost for farmers,” the officials said.