Bumper output may cause foodgrain glut: Rosaiah

Hindu Businessline - Hyderabad, Oct. 18
With Andhra Pradesh poised to register a record foodgrain output of about 207 lakh tonnes, potentially resulting in a glut in the market, it plans to seek the Centre's support for more storage space and free movement of rice.
The State Government will present a memorandum to the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, seeking Centre's assistance in ensuring that farmers do not get affected by lack of takers due to shortage of godown space.
The State is considering the prospect of allowing export of foodgrain with a cap of about 25 per cent of the produce, according to the State Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah.
The rice millers association in the State has been protesting seeking Government permission to export part of the foodgrain produce.
This was earlier banned as the prices of rice had shot up. They have refused to pick up fresh stocks from market yards.
Addressing a press conference on Monday, Mr Rosaiah said the bountiful monsoon is poised to result in a record foodgrain output of 207 lakh tonnes, during kharif and rabi crop seasons. This could mean total rice output of about 148 lakh tonnes, which is significantly higher than what the storage space can potentially accommodate.
The storage space of all facilities, including that of the Food Corporation of India, Central Warehousing Corporation and other State agencies, are simply inadequate to tackle such a foodgrain output. “We have been representing with the Centre and FCI for additional godown space and have been pleading with the FCI and Railways to help evacuate more stocks,” he said.
However, all these measures are proving to be inadequate. Therefore, the State plans to submit a memorandum to the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, the Chief Minister explained.
The State Government is pursuing with the Railway authorities to see that about seven rakes are deployed which would help evacuate more foodgrain from the market yards.
Given this backdrop, the State could consider allowing export of foodgrains, particularly rice to other parts of the country. A meeting of all political parties has been convened to take this issue further, he said.