Industry Odisha Bureau, Jul 13: In view of the threat being reportedly posed by the global weather pattern El Nino on this Khaarif season as well as the forecast of a below-normal monsoon this year already made by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the Government of India (GoI)’s reportedly claimed adequate stockpile of foodgrain could come as a great relief to curb the food inflation looming large.
Media reports citing the data available from the GoI’s Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution (MoCAF&PD) said, “The MoCAF&PD’s stocks of wheat (42.8 MT) and rice (38.95 MT) were at 81.75 million tonnes (MT) as of May 1 this year, nearly four times the prescribed buffer norm.”
Elaborating the stock position of wheat as per the MoCAF&PD data, media reports cited, “While wheat inventories till May 1, 2024 stood at 25.96 MT, 29.0 MT in 2023, and 30.3 MT in 2022.”
Elaborating the stock position of rice as per the MoCAF&PD data, media reports cited, “While rice inventories till May 1, 2024 stood at 31.91 MT in 2024, 26.5 MT in 2023, and 33.2 MT in 2022.”
It is being reportedly argued that “This four-year high stock of foodgrain soundly backs up the GoI to cater to the needs under the committed National Food Security Act (NFSA) and other welfare schemes as well as mitigate food inflation in case this year’s Kharif season gets adversely affected by the El Nino-impacted monsoon.”
Meanwhile, the GoI has reportedly “identified 315 districts as prone to weak monsoon conditions, while 111 districts have been identified as places with low irrigation coverage out of the total 800 districts across the country.”
