Improvement in government stock of food grains due to rice

28-Feb-2025 01:55 PM

The article outlines key developments regarding the government's food grain stock, with a focus on wheat and rice, highlighting both challenges and measures to address them.

Key Points:

  1. Stock Situation (as of 26 February 2025):

    • Total food grain stock: 498.91 lakh tonnes
      • Rice: 359.07 lakh tonnes
      • Wheat: 139.84 lakh tonnes
    • These figures are well above the required buffer stock levels.

  2. Rice Stock:

    • Rice stock is increasing due to the continuation of the custom milling of paddy procurement.
    • The Food Corporation of India (FCI) has been consistently receiving rice from millers.
    • By 26 February 2025, rice stocks were considerably higher compared to earlier in the year.

  3. Wheat Stock:

    • Wheat stock has been decreasing steadily due to:
      • Low arrival rates.
      • A high pace of withdrawal (likely due to consumption and government sales).
    • The government has increased its weekly sale of wheat under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) to 5 lakh tonnes to control the market price.
    • This scheme is expected to continue until 31 March 2025, resulting in further withdrawals from the central pool and a potential significant drop in wheat stock by 1 April 2025.

  4. Wheat Harvest:

    • The wheat crop is at various stages of growth.
    • Harvesting for the new crop is expected to begin in March, with peak harvesting starting in April.
    • The stock of wheat might face a decline until the new harvest starts arriving.

  5. Comparison with Previous Stock Levels:

    • At the beginning of the year, there was 475 lakh tonnes of food grains in the central pool (290.92 lakh tonnes of rice and 184.11 lakh tonnes of wheat).
    • As of 1 February 2024, the stock had decreased to 342.91 lakh tonnes, with significant drops in both rice and wheat.

  6. Future Projections:

    • The FCI holds a large stock of paddy, from which over 300 lakh tonnes of rice can be milled, further boosting rice stock.
    • Procurement of Rabi paddy will start in April, which will also increase rice stock.
    • Wheat stock could face challenges in the coming months unless there is an improvement in procurement or new arrivals.

Summary:

While the government is well-stocked with rice and has measures in place to manage the wheat stock through the OMSS, there may be a challenge with wheat stock levels. The coming harvests and paddy procurement will likely help bolster rice stocks, but the wheat situation may require careful monitoring to prevent shortages.

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