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The Central Government has released Rs 1,000 crore to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to help clear rice millers' dues in Andhra Pradesh. This amount will be paid towards the rice procured from the millers.
In a statement, the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, today thanked the Union Minister of State for Food and Civil Supplies, Mr K.V.Thomas, for clearing the amount for release to the FCI.
He also wanted rice millers in the State to step up procurement of paddy by offering minimum support price. In the past few days, FCI has paid Rs.270 crore to millers, the statement said.
The State has been pursuing with the Centre for release of additional funds for market purchase. This would be deployed to step up paddy procurement. The FCI owed about Rs 1,000 crore to the State rice millers towards the procurement.
In a related development, the Chief Minister reviewed kharif agricultural operations and expressed the need to set up a State Agriculture Commission with the objective of playing an advisory role for the farm sector including addressing issues such as remunerative prices.
Rain deficit
Due to rain deficit, the total sown area in the State is 32.51 lakh hectares against normal area of 36.53 hectares. The sown area is about 89 per cent of normal acreage thus far and 42 per cent of the total 78.11 lakh hectares during the season.
The State Government has released Rs 1,648 crore to serve the small and marginal farmers towards input subsidies.
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