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The TDP President, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, has urged the Prime Minister, Mr Manmohan Singh, to direct the Food Corporation of India to immediately take up paddy procurement in Andhra Pradesh and clear the huge stocks lying with farmers.
In a letter to Mr Singh, Mr Naidu said that the Centre should permit export of rice to prevent distress sale by farmers.
“It is expected that about 100 lakh tonnes of paddy will reach the market during Rabi 2011. While the FCI storage capacity in the State is only 36 lakh tonnes, the godowns are already overflowing with stocks with 40 lakh tonnes of paddy stocks procured during Kharif,” the TDP chief pointed out.
Besides, another 33 lakh tonnes of Kharif paddy is lying with farmers and rice millers.
The marketable surplus, after deducting levy requirement and home consumption, would be 45 lakh tonnes in the Rabi season alone, he said.
The glut situation has resulted in a drastic fall in minimum support price offered to farmers on different varieties of paddy.
The indifferent attitude of the state government and the inactive role of FCI has only compounded the misery of farmers in the State, the former Chief Minister claimed.
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