The states of Punjab and Haryana, which contribute the lion’s share to the central rice pool, are set to see a reduction in the area under paddy.
Both states have set lower targets in this regard to arrest their dwindling groundwater tables. Paddy needs plenty of water. Also, the states have to incur a huge expenditure in terms of power purchase to keep the fields irrigated.
And, the central government presently has a huge stock of rice, with storage being a problem.
Farmers have also been told not to sow the PAU 201 variety this year, due to high breakage and discolouration. As this variety gives a 15 per cent higher yield, this is also likely to make a dent in output.
According to a senior official in the Punjab agriculture department, “We expect to cover 2.7 million hectares under paddy this year, about 1,00,000 ha less than the actual area under paddy last year. We have been persuading farmers to diversify to other crops but the better and assured remuneration has kept the area under paddy stagnant.”
Similarly, Haryana has cut the estimated area under paddy from 1.2 million ha last year to 1.15 million ha this year. The two states contributed about 11.1 mt to the central pool in 2009-10 of Food Corporation of India’s 28.3 mt procurement.