India: Procurement Touches An All Time High

According to the latest statistics released by the Food Corporation of India, FCI, the Indian government's rice procurement in 2007-08 kharif season (October-September) hit an all-time high at 28.4 million MT.

Rice procurement has been high due to higher minimum support price for paddy, as well as a record output. India produced 96.4 million MT of rice in 2007-08, up 3.3 % from a year earlier.