Paddy worth Rs 16,000 crore procured this season in Chhattisgarh

Chhattisgarh is moving ahead to meet its paddy procurement target even as 70 per cent of it has been purchased from farmers.

One of the few states in the country to procure paddy from farmers at minimum support price (MSP), Chhattisgarh has set a target to purchase 11 million tonnes (MT) during the current kharif season of 2022-23.

In the last season, 9.8 MT of paddy was purchased from the farmers. The state government has enhanced the target by 11 per cent this year. A senior official with the food department said, as of now, 72 per cent of the target has been achieved even as one month is still left.

The paddy procurement process started in the state-run primary cooperative societies’ 2,600 procurement centres from November 1. It will continue till January 31.

“Till date, about 7.9 MT of paddy has been procured in lieu of which Rs 16,217 crore has been paid to 1.89 million farmers of the state under the bank-linking system,” the official said. This year, 2.59 million farmers have registered in the state, and of them, about 226,000 are newly registered. The Centre has fixed the MSP for common grade at Rs 2,040 per quintal while grade-A paddy is being procured for Rs 2,060.

Under its ambitious Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojana, the state government is, however, paying a bonus that facilitates farmers to get Rs 2,500 for a quintal of paddy.

Following the high rates, farmers from neighbouring states also try to sell their yield in Chhattisgarh through the local farmers.

The authorities are keeping a strict vigil as goods carriers entering the state are thoroughly checked at the posts. This is to prevent illegal transportation of paddy from neighbouring states, the official said.

Besides paddy procurement, the work of custom milling is also going on simultaneously.

The state government has issued a delivery order for the lifting of 6.2 MT of paddy. In lieu of this, 51.69 MT has been lifted by the millers.

Chhattisgarh is also paying MSP to farmers for pulses though the move has been aimed to crop diversification and discourage paddy cultivation.