Punjab Rice Millers Increase Interest in Storing Hybrid Rice

17-Oct-2025 02:01 PM

Chandigarh. This year, Punjab rice millers are witnessing a surprising shift in the government's paddy procurement policy. Rice millers, who had refused to accept hybrid rice from the government last year and were also banned by the state government, are now readily accepting it and storing the government-provided stock.

Until last year, rice millers argued that milling hybrid rice resulted in lower rice yields and higher brokenness. Earlier this year, there was a legal battle over the use of this rice.

The Food Corporation of India (FCI) purchases paddy from farmers and allocates it to rice millers for custom milling, receiving 67 percent rice in return.

Last year, millers argued that hybrid rice yields a low yield, yielding only 60-63 percent rice, and therefore, the corporation's rules were causing them financial losses.

In light of this, the Punjab government banned the sale of non-basmati hybrid rice seeds before planting in the 2025 Kharif season.

The matter later reached the court, but by the time a decision was reached, rice cultivation had already ceased in the state.

Despite the ban on the sale of hybrid seeds, Punjab farmers imported them from Haryana and Himachal Pradesh and cultivated them.

Hybrid rice was already planted in many parts of Punjab even before the court's decision. Due to adverse weather and natural disasters in Punjab, the average rice yield is expected to decline from the normal level of 28.30 quintals per acre to 22-23 quintals per acre this time.

Rice shellers fear they will not be able to obtain sufficient rice stocks for milling this time. They want to compensate for this shortfall with hybrid rice to keep their mills operational for as long as possible.