The increasing prices of rice is giving a boost to paddy farmers’ income in Telangana with many of them choosing to sell the harvest in open markets for around ₹3,000-₹3,500 per quintal of fresh harvest of fine rice, against around ₹2,450 of MSP & ₹500 bonus (for fine rice). Besides, farmers are getting pre-booking orders from individuals who want to lock the price and shield from potential hikes.
This is in stark contrast to the situation experienced by farmers in the previous harvest season when they had to wait for several weeks for their farm produce to be picked up from Paddy Procurement Centres (PPC) and sold at rice mills. Besides, the current higher prices in open markets and from individual buyers is being observed amidst El Nino triggered water shortage and appeals of the State government to refrain from sowing paddy in Rabi (Yasangi).
Pre-booking rice
“We used to buy a kg of rice for around ₹45, which now costs over ₹90. I paid ₹5,000 per quintal (100 kg) in advance to a farmer anticipating the prices to rise,” said Ramu from a village in Vikarabad. A paddy farmer in the district, Mahesh, said that people have approached him to pre-book the rice. The ryots process the harvest and deliver the grains in gunny bags. The price is around the same in Hyderabad, Khammam and other districts, with people fearing the rice to cost ₹100 per kg.
“We have heard of such instances — people pre-booking harvest. Farmers may lose out on potential profits if prices were to increase in the coming days, or individuals may lose money if the prices were to drop is to be seen,” said Sangani Yadaiah, Kisan Mitra field coordinator, Vikarabad, who is appalled at the rate at which the prices increased.
Donthu Rambabu, joint secretary, Telangana Rythu Sangham, said that he too got to know of instances of people pre-booking rice, and farmers selling the produce in open markets.
Over ₹3,000-₹3,500 per quintal in open markets
The ryots who sowed early began to get the yield from the beginning of October. The harvest will stretch till December, which means more rice from farms will be available. Selling it through government PPCs involves drying the fresh harvest for around ten days to bring down the moisture content from 35% to 17%, spending money to transport the produce to PPCs, rent tarpaulin sheets if it were to rain, hire labour to spread the grains again for drying, and other expenses.
“This season, farmers are selling the harvest in open markets and getting over ₹3,000 per quintal of fresh produce which has up to 35% moisture. Though there is a chance to get ₹4,000 to ₹5000 in the coming weeks, some farmers whose crops are ready don’t want to lose it to rains,” said Mr. Rambabu.
“Now, we only have to get the yield and keep it aside. They pick it up from our farm,” said Chintanippu Muralidhar Rao, Somavaram village in Khammam. He sold the fresh produce for around ₹3,300 per kg. Recalling the last time the harvest was picked up from the farm instead of him transporting it, Mr. Rao said that it was around 20 years ago when the supply chain was not well-oiled.
Sai Yadav, a farmer from Devulamma Nagaram, Yadadri district, said that he sold the fresh harvest a few days ago for ₹2,200 per quintal.
What does it mean for government?
Higher prices in open markets may mean the government gets a relatively lesser quantity of food grains. The rising food prices, adverse weather conditions and crop losses were factored in during a recent meeting by Civil Supplies Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy to strengthen food grain security to protect beneficiaries of the Public Distribution System (PDS).
Telangana’s estimated availability
The State’s annual requirement of rice is approximately 28.56 lakh metric tonnes (MT) to sustain the Central pool PDS, other welfare schemes and the State pool, including the mid-day meal programme.
According to the Civil Supplies Department’s stock position as of October 16, the State has 9.64 lakh MTs of rice in its buffer godown. Factoring in 18.39 lakh MT expected through pending custom-milled rice (CMR) deliveries and other identified supplies, the total estimated availability is 28.03 lakh MTs, sufficient to meet the requirements for 11.7 months, as per official note issued on October 19.