Adequate stocks of wheat and rice available in country, says government

New Delhi, June 21 (IANS) With the current procurement of wheat and rice, adequate food grains stock in Government granaries is maintained.

The combined stock position of wheat and rice in India is at a comfortable level and stands at 570 lakh metric tonnes (LMT), official sources said.

They added that the stock is enough to meet all requirements of food grains.

Paddy procurement by the Centre during the kharif marketing season 2022-23 has progressed smoothly, as more than 830 LMT has been procured for the central pool up till June 19, under minimum support price (MSP) operations.

Rice delivery against the procured paddy is also in progress and against the procurement of 830 LMT paddy, around 401 LMT rice has been received in the central pool till June 19 with another 150 LMT yet to be received.

Wheat procurement during the ongoing Rabi Marketing Season (RMS) 2023-24 has also progressed smoothly, sources said.

The progressive procurement of wheat in the current season upto June 19 is 262 LMT which is well above last year's total procurement of 188 LMT by 74 LMT.