Overview
- The Union government turned down Tamil Nadu’s request to raise permissible moisture in procured paddy from 17% to 22%, a decision Stalin disclosed on November 20 as he urged a reconsideration.
- Tamil Nadu reports rapid kharif procurement at 14.11 lakh metric tonnes by November 16, purchased from 1.86 lakh farmers through 1,932 centres for ₹3,559 crore.
- The Centre has capped the State’s kharif rice procurement at 16 lakh MT for 2025–26, while Tamil Nadu seeks approval to lift the ceiling to 20 lakh MT or align it with actual output.
- Stalin also asked to double fortified rice kernel packing to 50 kg and increase sample lot size to 25 MT, citing testing delays of up to 12 days that slow milling and crowd storage.
- Central teams that visited October 25–28 did not recommend relaxations, as officials project a season surplus of about 98.25 lakh MT of paddy by August 2026 that will strain storage and milling capacity.