Shri Sudhanshu Pandey, Secretary, Department of Food & Public Distribution (DFPD), Ministry of Consumer Affairs and Food & Public Distribution, chaired a meeting of State Food Secretaries and Food Corporation of India (FCI) to discuss the procurement arrangements for Kharif Crop ensuing Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2022-23, here today.

The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary/Secretary (Food) or Representatives of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh,  Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal. The meeting was also attended by Chairman & Managing Director, FCI & Other officers of FCI, Department of Food & Public Distribution, Indian Metrological Department and Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare.

A quantity of 518 LMT rice has been estimated for procurement during the forthcoming KMS 2022-23 (Kharif Crop) as against 509.82 LMT actually procured during last KMS 2021-22(Kharif crop).

During the meeting, issues relating to adoption of mechanized procurement operations, borrowing at lower interest rate, reduction in cost of procurement operations, adoption of innovative techniques & quality control mechanism, promotion of millets, gunny bags requirements, online settlement of food subsidy claims etc. were discussed and it was suggested that such innovations should be incentivized.  

Shri Pandey stated that focus should be on procurement of millets, not only on account of International Year of Millet-2023 but also because of climate changes. Climate changes have been adversely affecting wheat and Rice and resulting in reduction in their production. A quantity of 13.70 LMT coarse grains ”super food” has been proposed for procurement by the States during the forthcoming KMS 2022-23 as against actual procurement of 6.30 LMT as on date.

Secretary, DFPD, highlighted the problem of shortage of packaging material.  It was stated that arranging packaging material has become a challenging task as only 50% of the requirement of could be arranged through jute mills. To address the problem, DFPD is exploring possibilities of increasing the production/availability of new Jute bags by ways of testing new technology- Smart Jute Bags (SJB). As per report, trials have been found successful and these are at final stage.

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AD/TFK