Request to include NCCF in paddy procurement in five states

28-Sep-2024 01:27 PM

New Delhi. The Central Government has asked five states - Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha - to include the National Cooperative Consumer Federation of India (NCCF) in

the process of procuring paddy from farmers at the Minimum Support Price (MSP) during the new Kharif Marketing Season starting from October 1, 2024. It is worth mentioning that the government had procured a total of 201.20 lakh tonnes of rice from these five states during the Kharif Marketing Season 2023-24.

It is worth mentioning that at the beginning of the current week, the Union Food Ministry had sent a letter to

the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and the concerned state governments informing that NCCF has stated that since NCCF has expressed its intention to procure paddy from farmers at the Minimum Support Price (MSP) in

the Kharif Marketing Season 2024-25, the states are requested to include this agency in the procurement process.

According to the data received, during the 2023-24 season, government procurement of paddy equivalent to 14.40 lakh tonnes in Andhra Pradesh, 83 lakh tonnes in Chhattisgarh, 28.30 lakh tonnes in Madhya Pradesh, 36 lakh tonnes in Uttar Pradesh and 39.50 lakh tonnes in Odisha was done.

But traders and rice millers say that NCCF does not have adequate infrastructure and storage facilities to conduct such a procurement process on a large scale.

Primary Agricultural Credit Cooperative Societies (PACS) and self-help groups are doing a good job in the procurement of food grains and they should be equipped with better technology so that the role of middlemen can be reduced.

It seems that NCCF may face great difficulty if it gets involved in the paddy procurement process as a central agency.