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Paddy Procurement
The Centre has rejected Tamil Nadu's request to relax moisture norms for paddy saying procurement with high moisture content causes significant storage risk, Parliament was informed on Wednesday. Minister of State for Food and Public Distribution Nimuben Jayantibhai Bambhaniya, in her written reply to the Lok Sabha, said the southern state had requested for relaxing the moisture norms for paddy from 17 per cent to 22 per cent. However, the request of the Tamil Nadu government "has not been considered due to the following facts," she said. Paddy can be dried before milling; procurement of excessively moist paddy introduces significant operational risk, including loss of stock during storage and compromised milling recovery. The minister said paddy with high moisture content is susceptible in terms of rapid deterioration, fungal growth, discolouration, and infestation. The state governments have been repeatedly advised to develop drainage facilities at the procurement stages. "The
LDF convener T P Ramakrishnan on Saturday demanded that the Centre immediately withdraw its direction given to discontinue the additional incentive bonus provided by the Kerala government for paddy procurement. In a statement, Ramakrishnan said the Union Finance Ministry's Expenditure Secretary has written to the state chief secretary seeking withdrawal of the additional bonus given by states. The Centre has taken the stand that the additional incentive leads to excess procurement of wheat and rice across the country, creating a financial burden on the public exchequer, he said. According to him, the letter also states that the additional bonus encourages higher cultivation of foodgrains and leads to increased production. Ramakrishnan alleged that such an intervention would weaken the country's food self-sufficiency. The state government provides an additional incentive of Rs 6.31 per kg for paddy procurement, he said, adding that the Centre's share is often not released on time,
The Kerala government has decided to entrust paddy procurement to cooperative societies, shifting to a farmer-centric, two-tier system aimed at ensuring quicker payments and reducing delays. The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan here, a release from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said on Monday. The government said timely procurement would prevent crop damage and help farmers receive payments at the time of purchase itself. The new model will be implemented through Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies and will come into force from the upcoming season. Under the system, primary cooperative societies that are ready for procurement will purchase paddy directly from farmers. The government said the move would avoid dependence on Paddy Receipt Sheet (PRS)-based loans and ensure that farmers are paid immediately after procurement. At the district or taluk level, nodal cooperative societies will be formed with shareholding ...
The Jharkhand government has set a target to procure around 60 lakh quintals of paddy and will begin the exercise from December 15, an official said on Sunday. Altogether 783 procurement centres have been set up across the state to carry out the exercise, he said. State Food, Public Distribution and Consumer Affairs Minister appealed to his cabinet colleagues, MPs and MLAs to visit the procurement centres in their respective areas and inaugurate the initiative. He said the government will purchase paddy at Rs 2,450 per quintal from farmers. The authorities have set a target to procure around 60 lakh quintals of paddy, according to the state's e-uparjan portal. The Jharkhand Cabinet had on December 8 decided that farmers of the state will get a bonus of Rs 81 per quintal of paddy in addition to the Centre's minimum support price (MSP) for the crop in the 2025-26 fiscal. The state council of ministers also approved Rs 48.60 crore as a bonus against paddy procurement from the ...
The Centre has procured 120.67 lakh tonnes of paddy so far from Punjab, or 65 per cent of the estimated target, according to an official statement issued on Saturday. The central government has fixed an estimated target of 185 lakh tonnes for paddy procurement for the ongoing KMS (kharif marketing season) 2024-25 which will continue till November 30. "A total quantity of 126.67 lakh tonnes of paddy has arrived in the Punjab mandis as of 8th November 2024, out of which 120.67 lakh tonnes has been procured by state agencies and Food Corporation of India (FCI)," the statement said. The paddy is being purchased at MSP (minimum support price) of Rs 2,320 per quintal as decided by the Government of India for Grade 'A' paddy. "The total paddy purchased by the government till date in the ongoing KMS (kharif marketing season) 2024-25, amounts to Rs 27,995 crore benefitting around 6.58 lakh farmers, in Punjab," the statement said. Further, 4,839 millers have applied for shelling of paddy an
The Odisha government has decided to commence procurement of paddy from farmers for the kharif season 2024 from the third week of November, a minister said on Tuesday. The procurement will start from Bargarh district, he said. The decision was taken during a meeting of the cabinet sub-committee, held under the chairmanship of Deputy Chief Minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo on Monday. This will be the first procurement season after the BJP came to power in the state this year. "The BJP government is committed to fulfilling its promise to buy paddy at Rs 3,100 per quintal. An additional input subsidy of Rs 800 per quintal of the crop will be given to farmers over and above the minimum support price of Rs 2,300 fixed by the Centre," said Revenue Minister Suresh Pujari, who was present at the meeting. During the meeting, modalities to be adopted at the mandi (marketing yard) level were finalised to make the entire procurement hassle-free for farmers, he said. It was also decided in the
The Centre on Tuesday said it has procured 60.63 lakh tonnes of paddy so far in Punjab and it has already made payments of Rs 12,200 crore to farmers in the state as of October 28. In an official statement, the union food ministry said, "as of 28th October 2024, a total quantity of 65.75 lakh tonnes of paddy has arrived in the mandis out of which 60.63 lakh tonnes have been procured by state agencies and Food Corporation of India (FCI)." An amount of Rs 12200 crore has been released to the farmers in Punjab directly to bank accounts as of 28th October, it added. The procurement of paddy in Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2024-25 commenced on October 1, 2024, and 2,927 designated mandis including 1000 temporary yards have been opened throughout Punjab for smooth procurement of paddy. The Centre has fixed an estimated target of 185 lakh tonnes for this ensuing KMS 2024-25. The paddy is being purchased at a MSP (minimum support price) of Rs 2320 per quintal as decided by the Centre for
Punjab farmers on Sunday blocked roads and squatted on rail tracks at many places in the state as part of their protest against the alleged tardy procurement of paddy in the ongoing Kharif marketing season. While the Samyukta Kisan Morcha has given a call for a statewide road blockade from 12 to 3 pm, the Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) has also given a call for 'rail roko' for three hours. Police diverted road traffic through alternative routes. In Ludhiana, farmers disrupted road traffic at many places, including Samrala, Kohara, Khanna, Raikot, Doraha, Payal and Jagraon. Farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal said despite assurances by the state government regarding the smooth procurement of paddy, farmers are facing problems in grain markets. In Amritsar, protesting farmers squatted on Wallha railway crossing to protest against the slow purchase of the paddy crop. Bhartiya Kisan Union leader Parminder Singh Ugrah said farmers have blocked the Amritsar-Pathankot rail track. Far
The Haryana government has commenced paddy procurement at the Minimum Support Price and so far over 46,000 metric tons of the crop have been procured. According to an official statement issued on Tuesday evening, the paddy procurement began from September 27. "Till date, over 46,000 metric tons (MT) of paddy have been procured from 241 mandis and purchase centers across the state, benefiting more than 7,500 farmers," it said. "Today alone, approximately 1,200 MT of paddy was lifted," it said. In addition, the government is ensuring timely payments to farmers, having disbursed Rs 2 crore directly into their bank accounts, according to the statement. From Tuesday, the procurement of bajra has also commenced at the Minimum Support Price. The state government has opened 91 mandis and purchase centres specifically for this purpose, with over 25,000 quintals of bajra already purchased from farmers of the state. The procurement process is running smoothly and is scheduled to continue un
The Chhattisgarh government has set an estimated target of 160 lakh metric tonne paddy procurement for the 2024-25 kharif marketing season, officials said on Tuesday. The cabinet sub-committee constituted to review and give suggestions on the policy of paddy procurement and custom milling at the support price in the ongoing kharif marketing season took the decision to this effect in a meeting at Mantralaya Nava Raipur on Monday, a public relations department official said. The committee, during the meeting chaired by state Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Minister Dayaldas Baghel, decided to procure an estimated 160 LMT of paddy from farmers in the state, he said. Forest and Climate Change Minister Kedar Kashyap, Health and Family Welfare Minister Shyam Bihari Jaiswal and Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Tank Ram Verma were also present in the meeting. Keeping in view the Diwali festival and the State Foundation Day celebration Rajyotsav, the committee discussed