By Tathya Correspondent 

Bhubaneswar: A growing crisis is looming over Odisha’s rice procurement strategy, with the state facing a massive and unmanageable surplus of parboiled rice, known locally as Ushuna rice, which the Food Corporation of India (FCI) is hesitant to accept. This situation is set to worsen as a recent hike in the minimum support price has triggered a surge in paddy cultivation.

The state government successfully procured 92.64 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of paddy in the current Kharif season, resulting in a milled rice collection of 62.62 LMT. Crucially, this stock is predominantly parboiled rice.

The FCI has cited low demand in other consuming states, which primarily prefer raw rice (Arua rice), as the reason for its reluctance to lift the surplus. While the FCI has repeatedly advised Odisha to shift to raw rice production, the government has yet to issue any directive to the millers.

The non-lifting of the surplus has created a substantial backlog, leaving the state with approximately 1.3 LMT of rice after fulfilling the public distribution system (PDS) requirements.

To free up storage space before the new harvest, the government is temporarily providing an additional 5 kg of rice to PDS beneficiaries in 19 districts. Furthermore, a plan to auction the surplus rice is on hold as authorities have not yet finalized the minimum auction price.

The problem is poised for escalation after the state government fulfilled an election promise by increasing the paddy procurement price by Rs 800 per quintal, bringing it to Rs 3100. This increase has already led to farmers cultivating paddy in maximum quantity, signaling an even higher harvest and a corresponding rise in parboiled rice volume, raising serious concerns about future storage and disposal.

Despite the internal surplus, Odisha requires an average of 75 LMT of rice per year. The demand for raw rice among consumers is so high that about 4.5 lakh quintals of raw rice are distributed under the Public Distribution Scheme. This necessitates the daily import of hundreds of trucks of raw rice from other states, including Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and West Bengal, to meet the gap.

Experts and officials from the Agriculture, Food Supply, and Consumer Welfare Departments believe that domestic production of raw rice, aligned with consumer demand, would significantly resolve the state’s dual problem of a parboiled surplus and a raw rice deficit. The State Government has to initiate policy changes in this direction.

Published Date: November 24, 2025