HYDERABAD: Turning up the heat on the Centre, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Wednesday shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking him to ensure that the Food Corporation of India (FCI) procures 90 per cent of Kharif rice produced in Telangana as is done in Punjab.
In his letter to the Prime Minister, he also asked the Centre to confirm its target for procuring rice from Telangana during the ensuing Rabi season. However, he did not mention the total quantity of paddy produced by the State in the current Kharif season.
“Enhance the target for procurement of rice from 40 lakh tonnes (which the Centre had committed) during the ongoing Kharif 2021-22 to 90 per cent of the production as done in Punjab,” the Chief Minister said.
He also wanted the Prime Minister to ensure procurement of the remaining five lakh tonnes of rice produced in Rabi 2020-21.
“As you are aware, ever since the formation of the State in 2014, Telangana achieved tremendous progress in the agriculture sector. This is due to a series of policies and measures initiated by the State government to strengthen the sector. The farmers were given encouragement in the form of investment support of Rs 10,000 per acre per year and 24/7 quality power for free. The hard-working farmers of Telangana have increased the yields in a significant way, thereby contributing to the country’s progress,” Rao explained to the Prime Minister.
“Before the formation of the State, there was drought and prevalence of hunger everywhere. Today, due to the enormous increase in irrigation facilities, Telangana is not only able to meet its own food grains requirement but also became a huge grain surplus State. The farmers of Telangana are now able to produce for the rest of the country and this progress is also known to you,” he added.
“The policies of FCI are creating confusion in the minds of farmers as well as the State governments. The target of procurement is not fixed for the entire year at one go. Even though the production is increasing year after year, the procurement is not keeping pace. Due to these policies, it is becoming difficult for the States to plan an appropriate cropping pattern and explain the same to the farmers,” the Chief Minister said.
“For instance, the rice produced in Telangana during Kharif 2020-21 was 55.75 lakh tonnes. But only 32.66 lakh tonnes were procured, which is 59 per cent of the total production. This was less than the 78 per cent procured in Kharif 2019-20. Such wide variations in procurement levels do not allow the State to implement a rational cropping pattern,” he added.