Allow TN to revise rice target for current Kharif season CM Stalin urges PM

    Chennai, Nov 18 (PTI) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to issue necessary orders to allow the state to revise the target of 16 lakh MT of rice for current Kharif 2025-2026 season to the actual production and procurement levels for the season.
    Though Central teams assessed the moisture content on October 25, orders have not yet been issued by the Department of Food and Public Distribution for relaxing the moisture content from 17 to 22 per cent. "This needs to be done urgently," Stalin said in a letter to the PM.

    The existing packing size of 25 kg of fortified rice kernels might be permitted to be increased to 50 kg, and the sample lot size may be increased from 10 MT to 25 MT, he said and added that these requests were urgent in nature and have been placed in the interest of the paddy farmers.

    In Tamil Nadu, especially in the Cauvery delta districts, a very high quantity of paddy has been produced in the Kharif season this year. As on November 16, 2025, the procurement of paddy has increased from 4.81 lakh metric tonne in 2024-2025 to 14.11 lakh metric tonne in the current year, which is a new record in the history of Tamil Nadu in the procurement of paddy during the Kharif season, the Chief Minister said.

    The state government opened 1,932 direct paddy procurement centres as on November 16 and procured 14.11 lakh metric tonnes of paddy at a cost of Rs 3,559 crore from 1,86,674 farmers.

    In comparison, during the corresponding period last year, only 4.83 lakh metric tonnes of paddy was procured through 1,095 direct procurement centres.

    "Tamil Nadu has recorded a bumper harvest this year and in view of the Northeast Monsoon, I am making the following urgent requests to you. I hope you will consider them favourably ahead of your visit to Coimbatore (on Nov 19)," Stalin said in the letter.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)