Rajya Sabha MP Eranna B. Kadadi on Thursday conducted the State-level Consultative Committee (SLCC) meeting of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) here. The committee members later visited the food storage depot in Nanjangud, the KFCSC wholesale depot in Bandipalya, fair price shops, and the Siddhartha Co-operative Society.
The consultative committee has been constituted by the Government of India to protect the interests of food producers and consumers and advise the FCI on various matters relating to the procurement, storage, and distribution of food grains.
Mr. Kadadi reviewed the operations of FCI, Karnataka region, and key issues were discussed at the meeting.
The FCI Karnataka region has 63 godowns with a total storage capacity of 10,50,831 MT. As per the mandate, the region should have a storage capacity that could last for at least four months. The requirement under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and Other Welfare Scheme (OWS) is 7,93,755 MT (1,95,788 MT/month x 4 months).
At present, Karnataka has adequate food storage capacity, the MP said, at a press conference. In addition, the construction of 1,74,510 MT capacity storage warehouses has been planned at six locations in the State. The facilities had been planned on the existing vacant land of FCI depots, he said.
The tenders for the construction of FCI godowns at Maddur in Mandya and Kushalnagar in Kodagu district had been invited recently. The Maddur godown has been planned for 11,280 MT capacity, whereas the Kushalnagar godown will have 7,000 MT capacity storage.
In the meeting, it was told that Karnataka is following a decentralised procurement (DCP) system, and the State is procuring paddy, jowar, and ragi from farmers. The target for the kharif marketing season of 2024-25 is five lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of rice, eight LMT of ragi, and one LMT of jowar. Against this target, the process of registration of farmers for procurement has commenced.
As many as 3,230 farmers have registered for paddy procurement while 2,24,508 farmers for ragi and 16,026 farmers for jowar, a note from the FCI stated.
The MP said the State government is commencing procurement shortly through three agencies – Karnataka State Food and Civil Supplies Corporation (KFCSC), Karnataka State Co-operative Marketing Federation (KSCMF), and Karnataka State Agriculture Marketing Board (KSAMB).
Karnataka is a deficit state as it is procuring an average of six LMT per annum (4.5 LMT of ragi and 1.5 LMT of jowar) against the approximate requirement of 30,00,000 MT per annum under the NFSA and the OWS.
Hence, the shortfall of 24,00,000 MT and additional open sale requirement of 5,00,000 MT per annum (four LMT of rice and one LMT of wheat) is managed by the movement of rice and wheat stocks from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, and Punjab. Therefore, 100 rakes per month (3,000 MT per rake) are being received in Karnataka to manage PDS and other operations, the note stated.
Published – January 30, 2025 07:27 pm IST
