HC clears decks for hybrid paddy procurement, but storage remains hurdle with millers reluctant

Punjab Agriculture Department Director Jaswant Singh said the court’s order “leaves with no choice”.

“When there is no ban on the cultivation of notified hybrid paddy varieties in Punjab, legally these too must be procured from farmers,” he told The Indian Express. “However, the area under these varieties this year is not much. Owing to the ban during the sowing season, most of the farmers avoided it. If any farmers did grow these hybrids, they might have sourced seeds from neighbouring states. The acreage should be very small,” he said.

Officials at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) acknowledged that hybrid paddy continues to attract some farmers because of its high yield potential up to 36 quintals, which is 5-6 quintals more than other recommended PAU varieties, and could be grown even in poor water quality areas. PAU officials, however, warned that millers have long opposed it due to poor milling results.

While the government fixes a 67 per cent rice recovery rate per 100 kg of paddy, millers say hybrids often deliver just 60-62 per cent, pushing them into losses and disputes with procurement agencies.

Punjab Rice Millers’ Association president Tarsem Saini said, “Millers will not procure these varieties as their out-turn is low, causing heavy losses.” Asked why they agreed to procure last year after initially refusing, he said the Punjab government had extended several relaxations, which reduced their losses.

Farmers who grew such varieties last year also suffered, as in several parts of Punjab, they were forced to give three to six extra bags each weighing 37.5 kg for every 100 bags of paddy to certain arhtiyas, many of whom were also millers, to compensate for the losses.

Punjab has around 5,000 rice mills, where all government-procured paddy is stored initially and later milled, handing over rice to procurement agencies.

Storage stress on the horizon again

With the highest ever area, around 32.49 lakh hectares, including 6.83 lakh hectares under basmati, under paddy cultivation this Kharif season, Punjab has nearly 220 lakh tonnes of foodgrain in government godowns, including around 75 lakh tonnes of wheat and 145 lakh tonnes of rice. Of the 117 lakh tonnes of rice that the Food Corporation of India (FCI) was to receive from Punjab for the 2024-25 season, 116 lakh tonnes have already been delivered by millers, with just one lakh tonne pending, sources with the FCI said.

With godowns full, the state again faces the spectre of storage bottlenecks once procurement begins in October. “The grain is moving out of the state regularly, and by the time fresh rice arrives after milling in December, sufficient space should open up,” Punjab FCI general manager B Srinivasan said, adding that he is yet to read the court order on quashing the ban on notified hybrid paddy varieties.

Echoes of last year’s mismanagement

The high court order comes against the backdrop of Punjab’s troubled procurement season in 2024, when poor planning and storage constraints left a majority of procured paddy stuck in mandis by late last October, forcing farmers to slow down harvesting, fearing distress sales, and mandis were choked with grain as rice millers resisted storing government paddy.

Farmers bore the brunt, with delayed harvesting threatening the timely sowing of wheat and pushing many into distress sales below the Minimum Support Price (MSP). The state also witnessed farmer protests and blockades amid demands from arhtiyas and labour unions for dues and wage parity.

Way forward

This year, officials hope the limited acreage under hybrids will prevent major disruption. “We assume area under hybrid paddy is not much this year, we don’t expect a repeat of last year’s crisis,” a senior official said, cautioning that “the sheller resistance and godown saturation remain unresolved concerns”.

PAU experts warn that unless the government conducts milling out-turn trials for hybrids, strengthens seed certification and assures millers of timely lifting of rice, the issue will resurface every season. In the long run, they say, Punjab must diversify its crop base to ease the twin burden of procurement and storage, while ensuring farmers are not caught between legal mandates and logistical challenges.