In view of the proposed Food Security Act that gives legal entitlement of grains to the poor, the Centre is planning to direct states to increase their annual procurement of coarse grains to around 1.9 million to 2.2 million tonnes during the coming season that starts from October.
In 2009-10, states procured 4,06,828 tonnes of coarse cereals, data furnished by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) showed and in 2010-2011, till September 2, states had purchased around 1,27,825 tonnes of coarse cereals.
A meeting held last month directed representatives from states to enhance their coarse grains procurement in view of the proposed legislation. As per the provisions of draft Food Security Act, the government will give legal entitlement of grains to 75 per cent of the rural population. Of this, at least 46 per cent will belong to the priority category (also classified at below the poverty line).
It will also provide legal entitlement for grains to 50 per cent of the urban population, of which at least 26 per cent will be priority households. In all the classified priority households, every member will get seven kilograms of grains per month. They will be given rice at Rs 3 per kilogram, wheat at Rs 2 per kilogram and coarse cereals at Rs 1 per kilogram.
The general-category households will get three kg of grains per person a month at a price which is not more than 50 per cent of the minimum support price. Officials feel the legal entitlement of grains after the implementation of the Act could lead to an increase in demand for supply of some quantities of coarse grains through the public distribution system (PDS). Hence, there is need to increase its procurement.
The Centre has directed states to procure coarse grains only of that quantity which can distribute through the PDS. It also plans to call a meeting to discuss issues related to procurement of bajra, a key coarse cereal and review its quality norms.
Among all the states, Rajasthan has offered to procure almost 1.5-2.0 million tonnes of bajra between October to December this year because of a Rs 100 per quintal increase in the minimum support price. “The state,” a senior food ministry officials said, “has been told to make proper storage arrangement for bajra as it cannot be kept in the open.”
Among the other major coarse grain-growing state, Haryana has offered to procure 200,000 tonnes of bajra, while Karnataka has offered to procure 150,000 tonnes of maize.
The initial estimates of agriculture ministry shows that fall in acreage will lead to a drop in coarse cereals production in the coming kharif season year that can drop by around 20 per cent to 2.6 million tonnes — down from 3.24 million tonnes.
