Telangana far ahead of other states in paddy procurement: Uttam

Hyderabad: Irrigation and civil supplies minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Friday said while Telangana’s paddy production has been increasing steadily year after year since the Congress govt assumed office, the quantity of rice being procured by the central govt through the Food Corporation of India (FCI) is being reduced.The minister noted that Telangana has become one of India’s largest producers and procurers of paddy and deserves procurement allocations commensurate with its production levels.“Today, nearly 60 per cent of all paddy procured in India during the ongoing Yasangi season has come from Telangana alone. By the time procurement operations conclude, Telangana is expected to account for nearly 75 per cent of the country’s total Yasangi paddy procurement,” he claimed.Addressing a media conference at the Secretariat along with agriculture minister Tummala Nageswara Rao, BC welfare minister Ponnam Prabhakar and minority welfare minister Mohammed Azharuddin among others, Uttam said Telangana has become the backbone of India’s food grain procurement system. Telangana has already procured 60 LMT of paddy, compared to about 24 LMT in Andhra Pradesh, 11-12 LMT in Tamil Nadu, 3 LMT in Maharashtra, and nearly 2 LMT in Kerala, he claimed.“Telangana is far ahead of every other state in paddy procurement. We are also the number one state in supplying rice to the FCI under the central pool mechanism,” he said.“While the central govt agreed to procure up to 52 LMT from Telangana, the state has already crossed procurement of 60 LMT of paddy. The scale of procurement undertaken by Telangana has exceeded the centre’s prescribed limit by 115 per cent. The paddy cultivation during Yasangi 2025-26 covered 64.36 lakh acres, resulting in an estimated production of 1.41 crore metric tonnes,” minister Uttam added.“The procurement operations have been intensified and would be completed before the onset of the monsoon in the first week of June. As many as 8,575 procurement centres are established, 13,000 transport vehicles, and over two lakh personnel have been mobilised for procurement, transportation and logistics operations,” he informed.“MSP payments amounting to ₹11,050 crore have already been credited directly into farmers’ bank accounts,” he said.Uttam said lorries transporting sand and cement would also be diverted to paddy procurement operations. He admitted to hamali shortage initially due to elections in West Bengal and extended crop season in Bihar. “The hamalis are mostly from these two states. They have come back and now procurement operations have been expedited,” he said.