HYDERABAD: The State Civil Supplies Department authorities have decided to convert the paddy, which was soaked after heavy rains following a Centre-State stalemate over procurement, into fortified boiled rice.
The department has already requested the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to collect around 20 lakh metric tonnes in the form of fortified rice. However, during the last year, the FCI was reluctant to lift boiled rice, and it has not given any assurance on collecting additional boiled rice stocks from the State.
After the preliminary inquiry, the district administrations have reported that around 4.94 lakh metric tonnes of paddy was soaked across the State. The stocks of paddy are badly affected in the northern parts of the State where torrential rains were witnessed in the recent past.
As per the reports of district authorities, Jagtial district topped the list with 51,843 metric tonnes of soaked paddy, followed by Nizamabad (41,118 MT), Siddipet (40,000 MT), Medak (35,900 MT), Karimnagar (30,000 MT) and Nalgonda (24,293 MT). These figures indicate the lack of adequate foodgrain storage facilities in the State.
The paddy which was procured by the State government, and supplied to the rice millers for custom milling, was exposed to adverse climatic conditions and torrential rains.