By Puja Das The Centre may cut the amount of broken rice used in non-basmati rice exports, as food prices continue to surge in the middle of general elections.  Its idea is to cut the broken proportion of non-basmati white and parboiled rice used for exports from up to 25% now to 5%. This could boost domestic supplies amid a spike in prices, a senior official said.  Prices have continued to rise despite various measures, including the introduction of Bharat rice, stock disclosures, and export curbs. Rice prices at the retail level continue to hover at ₹44.40 a kg, an increase of ..read more

After initiating a probe into alleged violations of norms in branded spices, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is planning to expand its surveillance to other food items like fortified rice, dairy products, and spices sold in the domestic market. Sources reveal that FSSAI is gearing up to conduct surveillance on various food categories, including fruit and vegetables, salmonella in fish products, spices and culinary herbs, fortified rice, and milk and milk products. This move comes as FSSAI is already taking samples of powdered spices from all brands, including popular n ..read more

By Dipak K Dash The FCI is sitting on a stockpile of around 534 lakh tonnes of rice, which is four times the required buffer for July 1 and enough to meet requirements for one year even if there is no fresh procurement. As per the Food Corporation of India (FCI) data, as on May 1, it had 317 lakh tonnes of rice and another 217 lakh tonnes of grain receivable from millers. The millers get paddy procured by FCI for rice conversion. The FCI needs to maintain a stock of 135 lakh tonnes as of July 1. “The new govt will have to take a call on how to liquidate surplus rice stock,” a source said. Offi ..read more

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday slammed Odisha government over its alleged ‘anti-farmer’ policies. The saffron party alleged that the State government has fully failed to develop agriculture and farmers’ lives in Odisha. The Opposition party further alleged that the ruling BJD is only creating propaganda through its election manifesto. Corruption Allegation Odisha BJD president Manmohan Samal alleged that there have been massive irregularities in the procurement of rice. He alleged corruption of more than Rs 1 lakh crore in paddy procurement by the BJD government in the State. “Th ..read more

The paddy purchase centres are packed in a majority of the districts as the arrivals touched the peak. The procurement of paddy had so far crossed 18.5 lakh tonne mark, as the daily arrivals are in the range of 1 lakh tonnes to 1.25 lakh tonnes. The paddy arrivals picked up even in districts like Nirmal, Mulugu and Nagarkurnool that are known for late transplantation. Arrivals in such centres are on par with Nalgonda and Nizamabad, said officials. Senior officials drafted for monitoring the minimum support price (MSP) operations are reaching out to the purchase centres as part of the ..read more

By PTI The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday arrested former Chhattisgarh MARKFED managing director Manoj Soni in a money laundering case linked to an alleged rice milling scam worth Rs 175 crore, official sources said. Soni was taken into custody and produced before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Raipur where the agency will seek his custody for interrogation. The federal agency had last year said in a statement that Rs 175 crore bribes were generated through this alleged scam for the “benefit of higher powers”. It last raided Soni, some officers bearers of the ..read more

Cultivation of samba paddy was affected, which ultimately led to a 50% drop in paddy procurement this year, as the release of Vaigai water was delayed in Madurai.  Insiders from the paddy and rice trade industry stated that considering the increasing demand for paddy, action has to be taken to increase cultivable areas across the state. According to the agriculture department, nearly 50,000 hectares are used for samba cultivation in Madurai. Owing to the delay in releasing Vaigai water, the paddy cultivation area, as of March, has dropped to 40,832 hectares. Over 90% of the harvest has be ..read more

In a significant stride towards sustainable agricultural practices, farmers in Erravali village of Markook mandal, Siddipet, have successfully transitioned to direct seeding of rice (DSR), a method that promises to alleviate the challenges inherent in traditional paddy cultivation. Recognising the benefits of this innovative approach, Nuziveedu Seeds Limited (NSL), as part of its corporate social responsibility efforts, organised a crop-cutting experiment (CCE) on the direct-sown rice crop on Monday, at Erravali. The event witnessed the participation of agricultural officials, scientists ..read more

By Padala Santosh The process of custom milling of rice (CMR) is being executed at a snail’s pace in Kumram Bheem Asifabad district even as the deadline is drawing nearer. A total of 24,197 metric tonnes of paddy grains produced in the Vanakalam season-2023 was handed over to millers expecting 16,211 metric tonnes of rice to be returned by May 15 this year. However, barely 5,625 metric tonnes of rice were received so far, reflecting the sluggish pace of the process. As many as 10,587 MTs of rice is yet to be collected from the millers ..read more

MS Bajwa THE prevailing water crisis is posing the biggest threat to agro-economic sustainability and socio-economic stability in India. This problem is being aggravated by global warming and climate change. Saving water and using it judiciously are now recognised as one of the top priorities in the country. The governments and extension agencies in Punjab, Haryana and other states are motivating farmers to adopt water-efficient crop production approaches, particularly for the cultivation of rice, which is a high-irrigation crop (requiring 3,000-5,000 cubic metres of water per tonne of grain p ..read more