Procurement peril: Punjab millers refuse to process hybrid paddy

Time of India

12 hours ago

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Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana high court's decision to overturn the state's ban on Pusa-44 and other hybrid paddy varieties could create a new challenge for the upcoming paddy procurement, setting up a clash with the rice milling industry, which has declared it will not process hybrid paddy.
While the ruling brings relief for farmers keen on sowing these varieties, it would put them in a difficult position if there is a repeat of last year's procurement scenario, where they faced difficulty in getting their produce procured.
Last year, Punjab's rice millers advocated for a ban on hybrid paddy seeds, citing financial losses from a high breakage rate of 45-50% during milling. In response, the Punjab govt banned both hybrid seeds and PUSA-44, a long-duration variety known for depleting groundwater.
Millers had, however not opposed the sowing of PUSA-44, as it has no breakage issues.
Punjab rice industry president Bharat Bhushan Binta told TOI that since milling of hybrid varieties was not financially viable, millers in the state will not accept its crop during the upcoming procurement season. He suggested that the Food Corporation of India (FCI) should come up with relaxed breakage norms for the hybrid varieties so that millers don't suffer losses, as had been the case last year.
"The hybrid varieties don't meet the specifications fixed for paddy milling," he said.
Despite the ban, farmers in several parts of the state have planted Pusa-44 and hybrid paddy varieties, particularly in areas like Muktsar, Fazilka, and Mansa, which face problems with saline groundwater and waterlogging. These farmers, who previously adopted hybrid varieties after repeated cotton crop failures, sourced seeds from Haryana to get around the restrictions.
Ranjit Singh Jossan, vice-president of the Punjab Rice Industry Association, argued that milling hybrid paddy yields only 55-57% head rice, compared to the standard 67%. The high percentage of broken rice forces them to buy additional rice at higher prices to meet their 67% delivery contracts with the govt, he said.
Last year too, rice millers claimed that both PR-126 and hybrid paddy varieties had a low out-turn ratio (OTR) because of a higher rate of grain breakage.
Their reluctance to accept these stocks led to slow procurement in many grain markets. Amid a dispute with rice millers, a group of farmers selling their paddy alleged that they were being offered a price lower than the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 2,320 per quintal for hybrid varieties.
They claimed they were facing losses despite a bumper crop.
Some millers also had an issue with the PR-126 variety. Last year, the state govt agreed to the millers' demand to re-test the out-turn ratio (OTR) of PR-126 and other hybrid varieties.
The re-testing aimed to determine the exact OTR, which the Centre allows at 67% for common rice and 68% for par-boiled rice.
According to millers, the PR-126 variety has an intrinsic defect of broken grains, which results in a lower rice yield of about 5 kg per quintal. They claim that because this short-duration variety matures in just 110-125 days, its rice production ratio is only 62-64 kg per quintal, despite being a good option for water-scarce areas in Punjab due to its low water requirements.
In Oct last year, Union food minister Pralhad Joshi said that it is understood that the primary reason for the low OTR was the rise in hybrid varieties that are marketed in the name of PR-126 in the state of Punjab.
Make IIT Report Public: Millers
Amid a controversy over the high breakage rate of hybrid paddy varieties, a team from IIT Kharagpur visited three rice mills in the state last Oct to study the out-turn ratio (OTR) of paddy stocks. Millers are now demanding that the results of these tests be made public.
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