CM Stalin writes to PM to increase rice procurement

Chief Minister M. K. Stalin on Saturday requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to issue necessary instructions for revising the procurement target for Tamil Nadu from 16 lakh tonnes to 32 lakh tonnes of rice for KMS 2025–2026 (Kharif crop) on a priority basis, in order to facilitate continued procurement and ensure timely payments to farmers.

In a letter to Mr. Modi, he said the timely opening of the Mettur Dam for irrigation, favourable climatic conditions, increased area coverage, improved crop management practices, better irrigation support, and the adoption of high-yielding varieties of paddy by farmers, with active government support, had resulted in a historic increase in paddy production and productivity in the State.

Mr. Stalin also recalled his letter in November last year requesting the Union government to revise the rice procurement target from 16 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) to the actual procurement level.

He said that as on March 12, the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation and the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India Ltd. (NCCF) had procured 36.63 lakh tonnes of paddy, as against 24.17 lakh tonnes procured during the corresponding period of KMS 2024–2025, reflecting a significant increase in procurement this year.

He said that out of the 36.63 lakh tonnes of paddy procured, approximately 24.91 lakh tonnes of rice was expected to be hulled, and the procurement had already exceeded the rice target of 16 lakh tonnes fixed by the Government of India.

“Further, paddy procurement is continuing at an average rate of about 50,000 tonnes per day. The trend is expected to continue and the total procurement is likely to reach 47.50 lakh tonnes of paddy, which would result in the delivery of approximately 32 lakh tonnes of rice,” he said.