Food import may go up

The government plans to increase food import and lower procurement from domestic sources in the next fiscal year to bring down food prices further.
Food import is likely to rise by 37 percent to 12.50 lakh tonnes next fiscal year, according to an estimate of the food ministry.
Such imports were 9.12 lakh tonnes in the revised budget for the current fiscal year, down from 12.50 lakh tonnes in the original one.
Rice import dropped significantly in the current fiscal year, a food ministry official said, adding that the import was also lower in the revised budget.
The rice import target was three lakh tonnes in the original budget of the current fiscal year but the government now plans to import only 2,000 tonnes.
The government aims to import 2.5 lakh tonnes of rice next fiscal year.
The government may not have to import the targeted amount of food if natural calamities do not hamper food production, the ministry official said.
The target of importing wheat in the next fiscal year has been set at 8.5 lakh tonnes, up from eight lakh tonnes both in the original and revised budget of the current year.
However, the target for buying from the domestic sources has been slashed by around 3 percent.
The target for local procurement has been set at 16 lakh tonnes for the next fiscal year, from 16.50 lakh tonnes in the revised budget.
Initially, the target was 16 lakh tonnes, which was later raised by 50,000 tonnes, the official said. He also said almost 90 percent of the local procurement is rice.
The government cut imports but raised domestic procurement in the current fiscal year to help farmers get fair prices amid a bumper production.
The food procurement strategy will be revised next year based on the production situation. The government wants to ensure that the rice prices do not go up before the next election, the official added.
Though the rice prices are comparatively stable now, the government has taken a massive food distribution programme as a precaution.
The government has a plan to distribute 16.30 lakh tonnes of rice under various safety net schemes in the next fiscal year although the target was 15.90 lakh tonnes in the current year.