Rice procurement in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh has exceeded the last year's volume but at the national level it is still down by one per cent so far.
According to the latest FCI data, the government has procured 25.24 million tonnes (m.t.) of rice so far since October last year, down by about one per cent compared to the year-ago period.
The government had procured 32.03 m.t. of rice in the entire 2009-10 marketing year.
The procurement process is going smooth in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
The combined rice procurement in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh stood at 3.79 lakh tonnes, higher than the total procurement in these two states in the entire 2009-10 marketing year.
During last marketing year, the procurement stood at 3.61 lakh tonnes in the two states.
The marketing season for rice starts from October and it ends in September.
Food bowl's poor show
The scenario, however, is not good in Punjab, considered the ‘food bowl of the country' and other important states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Orissa.
Rice purchase in Punjab stood at 8.63 m.t. so far against 9.28 m.t. in the year-ago period on account of less arrivals, the FCI data said.
According to the Agriculture Ministry's second advance estimates, the country is estimated to produce 94.01 m.t. of rice in 2010-11 crop year.
Rice is grown in kharif and rabi season.