India’s overflowing grain reserves paint a curious picture of abundance amid structural inefficiency. While it is reassuring that the nation’s granaries ~ especially for rice and wheat ~ are filled beyond target, this comfort masks deeper anxieties that policymakers can ill afford to ignore. For starters, the sheer volume of rice stock ~ 59.5 million metric tons against a target of 13.5 million tons ~ is staggering. Rather than being a sign of strategic prudence, this glut hints at an operational mismatch. Procurement continues aggressively, yet distribution and market offloading remain sluggish. Such accumula tion could result in storage costs ballooning, grain spoilage, and market distortions. The government’s decision to finally lift export curbs on rice in March 2025 is a welcome move, but late. The delay has allowed excessive piling up when the export window could have been exploited sooner to take advantage of global shortages.

Wheat, too, has rebounded after years of poor harvests, touching 36.9 million tons ~ far surpassing its buffer norm. This is, no doubt, a relief. After all, India flirted with the prospect of wheat imports last year, which would have dented food security perceptions. However, this surplus must be actively used. Without timely off – loading into the open market or schemes like PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, the reserve will simply sit idle, inviting wastage. Unless these bulging reserves are rapidly offloaded, India risks wastage on an epic scale ~ a scenario that would undermine both farmer confidence and the government’s fiscal discipline in food management.

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There’s also the question of farmer incentives. High procurement prices and government absorption can distort cropping patterns. If farmers see guaranteed returns on rice and wheat, they’ll continue planting these at the expense of pulses and oilseeds, commodities India chro – nically under produces. The import-dependence on edible oils and pulses costs the exchequer dearly ~ high – lighting the urgent need to shift away from cereal-centric procurement. A short-term solution could be aggre – ssive open market sales and large-scale exports to Africa and Southeast Asia, regions perpetually hungry for stap – les. Yet export pricing must be competitive to beat rivals like Vietnam and Thailand.

Simultaneously, storage infrastructure needs modernisation ~ more silos and less dependence on traditional godowns. Without this, the risks of rotting and pilferage will remain alarmingly high. The Food Corporation of India, central to this system, has to evolve from being merely a buyer and hoarder to an active market participant ~ offloading stocks stra – tegically to moderate prices while ensuring food security. India’s granary paradox ~ plenty amid worry ~ of – fers a lesson: abundance without distribution creates stagnation. The real challenge is not production, but agility. Grain must flow to markets, households, and hungry mouths across India and the globe ~ not languish in sacks behind godown walls. A proactive, flexible grain management policy is not just an economic necessity ~ it is an agricultural reform waiting to happen.