Massive Foodgrain Stocks in Central Pool

21-Jul-2026 03:45 PM

New Delhi. Official data reveals that as of July 1, 2026, the Central Pool held a massive stock of 925.85 lakh tonnes of foodgrains (rice and wheat). While this is 4.61 lakh tonnes lower than the 930.46 lakh tonnes available on June 1, 2026, it is 189.24 lakh tonnes higher than the 736.61 lakh tonnes held on July 1, 2025. Prior to this, the total foodgrain stock in the Central Pool stood at 608.75 lakh tonnes on July 1, 2024.

Compared to June, rice stocks in the Central Pool rose from 396.32 lakh tonnes to 403.11 lakh tonnes by the beginning of July 2026, whereas wheat stocks declined from 534.14 lakh tonnes to 522.74 lakh tonnes. Government procurement of wheat has concluded, and the stock will now primarily be drawn down; conversely, rice continues to flow into the Central Pool, with rice millers regularly supplying Custom Milled Rice (CMR) to the Food Corporation of India (FCI).

Additionally, paddy stocks in the Central Pool dropped from 428.40 lakh tonnes in June to 387.45 lakh tonnes by early July, clearly indicating an accelerated pace of custom milling. Meanwhile, stocks of coarse cereals improved, rising from 8.99 lakh tonnes to 10.04 lakh tonnes.

Government agencies procure paddy from farmers at the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and allocate it to rice millers for custom milling; in return, the millers supply the resulting rice to the Food Corporation. Government procurement of Rabi and summer (Zaid) paddy is still ongoing in some areas, even as the transplanting of Kharif paddy has gained momentum.