FCI procuring only fortified rice from Vizianagaram district in Andhra Pradesh, says official

‘This rice addresses the problem of micronutrient deficiencies among pregnant women and children, below 5 years of age, and malnutrition’

The Visakhapatnam Divisional Office (DO) of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) has procured 5501.219 MTs of rice for the kharif marketing season between October 2021 and October 2022 and moved the foodgrains to deficit States to cater to the requirement for schemes like Pradhan Manthri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) NFSA, MDM and other welfare schemes.

FCI Divisional Manager Praful Kumar Sahu, Assistant General Manger (Quality Control) P.C. Meena, Manager (Depot) Varun Dev and Manager (QC) N. Uma Maheswari showcased the activities of the corporation to the media, through a PowerPoint presentation here on Friday.

Under the pilot scheme of the Government of India for fortification of rice, the Divisional Office was procuring only fortified rice from the mills in Vizianagaram district. The reconstituted rice grain is made from rice flour and addition of vitamins and minerals, using the hot/cold extrusion technology. This rice addresses the problem of micronutrient deficiencies among pregnant women and children, below 5 years of age, and malnutrition.

The Viskahapatnam DO has supplied a total of 39,678 MT s of food grains, including 29,587 MT s of rice and 9,466 MT s of wheat and 265 MT s of fortified rice, to Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It has also supplied foodgrains to Madagascar, Comoros, Timor Leste and Mozambique as ‘Humanitarian Assistance’ during 2021 and 2022.

The FCI purchases about 20% of India’s wheat output and 12 to 15% of its rice output every year from the farmers at the rates declared by the Government of India. In Andhra Pradesh, the FCI undertakes procurement, movement, storage and preservation of foodgrains.

The main role of the FCI is to implement the objectives of the National Food Policy – effective price support, distribution of foodgrains throughout the country for Public Distribution System (PDS), maintaining buffer stocks and regulate market price.

AP being a surplus DCP (Decentralised Procurement) State, the FCI takes over the surplus rice over and above the State’s requirement and moves it to the deficit States like Bihar, Jharkhand, North East, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.