The rise in retail price of rice is due to reports of a possible fall in the country’s production.
New Delhi:
After wheat, the all-India average retail price of the grain has increased by 6.31 per cent to Rs 37.7 per kg due to supply concerns in rice prices, according to an official data.
According to data maintained by the consumer affairs ministry, the all-India average retail price of wheat has risen over 22 per cent to Rs 31.04 per kg on August 22, from Rs 25.41 per kg in the year-ago period.
The data shows that the average retail price of wheat flour (atta) has increased by more than 17 per cent to Rs 35.17 per kg from Rs 30.04 per kg in the year-ago period.
The upward trend in the retail price of rice is due to reports of a possible fall in production in the current Kharif (summer) season in the country in view of the 8.25 per cent reduction in paddy sowing till last week.
Given the current gap in paddy coverage, experts said the country’s total rice production for the 2022-23 kharif season (July-June) is likely to fall short of the target of 112 million tonnes.
Still, the rise in retail prices of rice is not yet high in the case of wheat as the Center has huge reserves of 396 lakh tonnes and can use it to intervene in case of sharp rise, he said.
In the case of wheat, its prices have come under pressure in both the wholesale and retail markets due to a fall of nearly 3 per cent in domestic production to 106.84 million tonnes in the crop year 2021-22.
Wheat production is expected to decline due to the heat wave, resulting in drying up of grains in the northern states of Punjab and Haryana.
Meanwhile, industry body Roller Flour Millers Federation has raised concerns over non-availability of wheat and steep rise in prices in the last few days.
According to agriculture ministry data, till August 18 this kharif season, paddy has been sown in 343.70 lakh hectares as against 374.63 lakh hectares in the year-ago period.
Jharkhand, West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and few other states recorded less area due to deficient monsoon rains.
Paddy is the main kharif crop, sowing of which begins with the onset of southwest monsoon in June. More than 80 percent of the country’s total rice production comes from the Kharif season.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)