HYDERABAD: While the TRS and the BJP have been passing the buck on paddy procurement to each other, the ground reality is that it may not be a worrisome factor for the farmers.
Official data shows that while 1.64 crore tonnes of paddy was produced in Kharif 2021-22, 70.22 lakh tonnes was procured by the FCI from Telangana. This means that only 42.62 per cent of the total paddy from the State was procured by FCI in the last Kharif marketing season.
According to the marketing intelligence centre at Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, many traders from neighbouring States like Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka had procured paddy from Telangana in Kharif. This explains where the rest of the paddy went.
The reason they give is that because of high-quality paddy grown in irrigated areas of Telangana, there has been good demand for TS paddy in neighbouring States.
They believe that even in the present Rabi season, a similar trend would prevail and ultimately the farmers’ produce will be procured in the open market.
They also forecast that Grade-A variety may fetch anywhere between Rs 1,600 and Rs 1,800 per quintal while the common variety would fetch Rs 1,300 to Rs 1,500 per quintal in March.
Though the present Rabi season’s second advance estimates have not yet been approved and shared by the Directorate of Economics and Statistics, going by the production of 1.32 crore tonne paddy in 52,78,636 acres in Rabi 2020-21, it can be roughly estimated that around 80 lakh tonne paddy may be produced in Rabi 2021-22 season in 35,84,187 acres.