Chhattisgarh govt to start paddy procurement at MSP from November 14

Paddy procurement at the minimum support price (MSP) in Chhattisgarh will start from November 14.

The state government has set a target to purchase a record 16 million tonne (mt) yield at MSP this time. The officials said a total of 8 lakh bales of rice will be required for the procurement.

Chhattisgarh is among few states in the country that purchases paddy directly from the farmers at MSP. It also pays the highest price of Rs 3,100 per quintal.

The state cabinet in a meeting on Wednesday approved the policy on paddy procurement and custom milling at support price for the kharif marketing year 2024-25. 

“Based on the recommendation of the Cabinet sub-committee, it has been decided to start purchase of paddy from November 14, 2024 in cash and linkage from the farmers of the state at support price,” a state government spokesperson said.

Paddy procurement in the state will continue till January 31, 2025, he added.

The process of registration of farmers for procurement of paddy through the Integrated Kisan Portal by the Department of Agriculture is in progress and will continue till October 31, 2024. Over 2.4 million farmers are likely to be benefitted. The spokesperson said the biometric system for procurement would be applicable like the previous year.

The state has set a new record target to procure 16 mt of paddy at MSP in the kharif marketing season 2024-25 compared to the procurement of 14.5 mt paddy in the last kharif marketing season.

The state government purchases paddy directly through the primary agriculture cooperative societies and procurement centres set up at the village level. The state-run Chhattisgarh marketing federation (MARKFED) is the nodal agency for the procurement that makes payment through Direct Bank Transfer (DBT) mode.  In the last season, the MARKFED had set up 2,058 cooperative societies and 2,739 paddy procurement centres across the state.

The ruling BJP had promised before the November 2023 assembly elections to procure paddy at Rs 3,100 per quintal from farmers. The amount includes the MSP fixed by the central government and the difference is paid as input subsidy to enable farmers to get Rs 3,100 for a quintal of yield.

The state cabinet has also given approval to purchase 4.02 lakh new Bardana (jute bags) through the jute commissioner for stocking purposes.