Govt panel reiterates need to review open-ended grain procurement policy

The policy has led to mounting food stocks and adversely affected crop diversification, says report

With the Food Corporation of India (FCI) sitting on huge stockpiles of foodgrain, the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), the central government’s farm price support fixing panel, has again strongly recommended reviewing the open-ended procurement policy.
 
Under the latter, government agencies buy whatever quantity of wheat and rice is brought by farmers into the mandis (wholesale markets), within the stipulated time and which conforms to fixed quality parameters for Central pool. The Commission’s latest report, for the 2020-21 rabi marketing season and issued last week, also favours excluding safflower and nigerseed (ramtil in Hindi) from the Minimum