Foodgrain stock at 54.52 million tonnes as of March 1: FCI

NEW DELHI: Helped by a record output of wheat and rice, India's foodgrain stocks rose by 18 per cent to 54.52 million tonnes as on March 1, according to official data.

The foodgrain stock with Food Corporation of India (FCI), India's nodal agency for foodgrain procurement and distribution, stood at 46.01 million tonnes in the year-ago period.

Wheat stocks rose to 21.25 million tonnes as of March 1, 2012 from 17.15 million tonnes in the same period of the previous year, while stocks of rice rose to 33.17 million tonnes from 28.72 million tonnes in the same period.

Coarse grains stocks, however, declined by 28 per cent to 0.93 lakh tonnes as of March 1 this year from 1.29 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period.

As per government norms, the FCI should have a minimum of 21.2 million tonnes of wheat and rice available in its buffer stock as of October 1 every year. This includes 5 million tonnes of strategic reserves.

The Centre has created a strategic reserve of 3 million tonnes of wheat and 2 million tonnes of rice over-and-above the normal buffer stock.

According to the second advance estimates by Agriculture Ministry, country's foodgrain production is pegged at 250.42 million tonnes in the 2011-12 crop year (July-June), which includes 102.75 million tonnes of rice and 88.31 million tonnes of wheat.