MSP ops for Rabi coming to a close

The procurement was hit by untimely rains last year too. But summer showers were experienced this time in long spells and almost throughout May.

Hyderabad: The Minimum Support Price (MSP) operations taken up for the procurement of Rabi paddy are expected to come to a close in a major part of the State by May-end, barring three to four districts. Due to late transplantation, paddy arrivals are further expected mainly from Bhupalpally, Nirmal and Mahabubabad.

The procurement, which peaked towards the first week of May, is nearing its end in all major paddygrowing districts, including Nalgonda and Nizamabad. Officials of the State agencies, who spearheaded the MSP operations, called it the most arduous of marketing seasons and attributed it mainly to the untimely rainfall that defied the usual seasonal patterns.

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The procurement was hit by untimely rains last year too. But summer showers were experienced this time in long spells and almost throughout May.

Even as the Rabi procurement operations got under way in advance towards the end of March last, with an ambitious target of 75.40 lakh tonnes, the realisation may not cross 55 lakh tonnes during the season as expected. Rabi procurement achieved so far is close to the 40 lakh-tonne mark. Some of the districts were left out with 20,000-50,000 tonnes to be purchased.

Private traders were able to offer a good price for the paddy of better grades by reaching out to the farmers before the government agencies could. Only those farmers, who needed the MSP for their produce, moved to the paddy procurement centres.

By May 20, the procurement was in the order of 37.6 lakh metric tonnes as against 33.97 lakh tonnes during the same time last year, officials said.

The Civil Supplies Corporation had opened all 7,171 paddy purchase centres as against 7,245 centres planned for Rabi.

The procurement of rainsoaked paddy was the major task this year. A majority of the farmers had to dry up the rain-soaked stocks again and again to address the moisture issues and it made them restive. This triggered protests in several places. Problems were multifold with the rain soaked paddy