Government may extend procurement of rice in Maharashtra due to Coronavirus lockdown

New Delhi: The food ministry may extend the procurement of rice in Maharashtra by a month.
Food minister Ram Vilas Paswan, in a tweet, has said that the centre is considering positively to a proposal of Maharashtra government seeking an extension to rice purchase by a month due to lock down in the wake of Corona Virus. The procurement normally ends in March.

“The request of Maharashtra government is being considered positively,” Paswan tweeted.

Former agriculture minister NCP leader Sharad Pawar has also requested food ministry to extend the procurement due to the lockdown.

“Due to the Coronavirus lockdown in Maharashtra, request Ram Vilas Paswan to extend the date of procurement of Paddy from farmers in Nagpur, Chandrapur, Bhandara, Gondia and surrounding areas by 4 - 6 weeks,” Pawar tweeted.

The Food Corporation of India (FCI), the central procurement agency, has procured 38.1 million tonnes rice from various states till March 11, 2020 in the kharif marketing season which started in October 2019.

“We have completed procurement of rice in key growing states of Punjab, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. In Maharashtra also, we have almost completed the procurement buying 5.93 lakh tonne of rice as against 5.80 lakh tonnes in 2018-19 marketing season,” said an FCI official.