Chhattisgarh farmers surpass sowing target hoping high paddy price

Chhattisgarh surpassed the sowing target for paddy crop in the current kharif season as farmers looked to get higher price for their produce.

Against the target of 3.86 million hectares (mn ha), paddy sowing has been completed in 3.91 mn ha of area as on September 3, 2024, a state government spokesperson said. The area sowed is 101 per cent of the targeted paddy acreage for the season.

Though the state has surpassed the paddy sowing target, it is yet to achieve the overall kharif crop sowing target for the season even as the sowing has come to a halt. Traditionally, the farmers in Chhattisgarh perform the puja of bullocks and agriculture equipment on Hal Shasti, a festival dedicated to the farming community and stop the sowing work. This year, the festival fell on August 24.

“As of now, 98 per cent of the target set for the kharif crop sowing has been achieved,” the spokesperson said, adding that as against the target of 4.86 mn ha, sowing has been completed in 4.76 ha area.

The state government is discouraging paddy crop, instead focusing on promoting cultivation of millets, pulses and oilseeds. Despite widespread campaigns, farmers are not keen to diversify away from the crop. The sowing of pulse seeds and oil seeds could be completed in 89 per cent and 71 per cent against the target set for the season.

According to agriculture experts, farmers in Chhattisgarh are still keen to engage in paddy cultivation due to higher rates. Besides the minimum support price (MSP), the BJP government led by Vishnu Deo Sai has announced input incentives that escalates the price of per quintal of paddy in Chhattisgarh to Rs 3,100. The government has kept a cap and purchased 21 quintal paddy per acre from the farmers.

Chhattisgarh is among a few states in the country that procures paddy from the farmers at MSP. The state government executes the process through the primary agriculture cooperative societies set up at the village level. The procurement normally starts in November and continues till January end.

Given the higher price, the paddy flow in the state-run procurement centres surged in the last kharif marketing season. As against the target of 13 million tonne (mt), Chhattisgarh procured 14.7 mt of paddy in the kharif marketing season of 2023-24 from 2.4 million farmers. After Punjab, Chhattisgarh is the highest paddy producing state in the country.

Even Chhattisgarh is among top three states in the country in contributing rice to the central pool.