Govt procures 287,000 tonnes paddy; maximum from Punjab, Haryana

The government has procured 2.87 lakh tonnes of paddy so far in the first few days of the commencement of 2021-22 kharif marketing season, with maximum quantity purchased from Punjab and Haryana, the Union Food Ministry said on Wednesday.

The ministry had to reschedule paddy procurement from October 3 in Punjab and Haryana due to farmers' protest. Earlier, the procurement was postponed in these two agrarian states till October 11 in view of high moisture content in paddy crop because of unseasonal rains.

"A quantity of 2,87,552 tonnes of paddy has been procured up to October 5 in 2021-22 kharif marketing season, benefiting 29,907 farmers with MSP value of Rs 563.60 crore," the ministry said in a statement.

Out of the total, 1,46,509 tonnes of paddy has been procured in Haryana and 1,41,043 tonnes from Punjab, it said.

Paddy is procured at minimum support price (MSP) directly from farmers by centre's nodal agency Food Corporation of India (FCI) along with state agencies in key growing states.

According to the ministry, paddy procurement for the 2020-21 marketing year has almost concluded and a total of 894.24 lakh tonnes of paddy has been from both kharif (summer) and rabi (winter) seasons, surpassing the previous purchase of 770.93 lakh tonnes in 2019-20 marketing year.

Out of 894.24 lakh tonnes of paddy, 718.09 lakh tonnes of paddy was from the kharif season and 176.15 lakh tonnes from the rabi season.

About 131.14 lakh farmers have benefited from the 2020-21 procurement operation with an MSP value of Rs 1,68,832.78 crore, it added.