On August 29, 2024, the Secretary of the Department of Food & Public Distribution (DFPD) for the Government of India chaired a meeting in New Delhi with State Food Secretaries and officials from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to discuss preparations for the Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2024-25.
Various factors impacting procurement such as weather forecast, production estimates, and readiness of States for procurement operations were reviewed during the meeting. After deliberations, the estimates for paddy procurement (Kharif Crop) during ensuing KMS 2024-25 have been fixed at 485 LMT in terms of rice compared to procurement of 463 LMT (Kharif Crop) during KMS 2023-24.
A quantity of 19.00 LMT of coarse grains /millets (Shree Anna) has also been estimated for procurement by the States during the KMS 2024-25 (Kharif crop) which is a substantial increase compared to procurement of 6.60 LMT during KMS 2022-23 (Kharif crop). States/UTs were advised to focus on procurement of millets for diversification of crops and enhanced nutrition in dietary patterns.
The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary/Secretary (Food) of States/UTs as well as officers from FCI, India Meteorological Department and Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare.
Several ongoing initiatives of Department of Food and Public Distribution which inter-alia included Supply Chain Optimization of Public Distribution System, infrastructure improvement in Procurement Centers, Jan Poshan Kendras and workflow automation for release of food subsidy to the States etc were also discussed in the meeting.
(Source: PIB)
