Paddy procurement: 1479 purchase centres opened

The paddy procurement achieved so far is in the order of some 31,000 metric tonnes only and this is mainly from Nizamabad and Nalgonda districts.

Hyderabad: Even as the Yasangi harvest operations picked up momentum, paddy purchases are yet to gather pace in the State. The Civil Supplies Corporation, commenced procurement for the Rabi marketing season on March 25 by opening as many as 7,149 purchase centres so far.

The paddy procurement achieved so far is in the order of some 31,000 metric tonnes only and this is mainly from Nizamabad and Nalgonda districts.

---

The pace of paddy procurement in many other districts including Mahabubabad and Khammam, where the operations got off to a start only in the first week of April, is expected to stepped by the second week.

The heat wave conditions prevailing in the State had the impact on the arrivals. They are expected to improve by the end of second week of April when some let up in the weather conditions is expectd.

The main disappointment for the paddy growers is that they expected the government to implement Rs 500 per quintal bonus as promised, but could not be implemented so far.

The farmers are assured of the minimum support price of Rs 2183 per quintal (common varieties) and Rs 2203 (grade A) under the procurement operation.

In fact a better price is available for them, in the open market. As per the latest market rates, the average paddy (common variety) is fetching a price of Rs 2201.80 per quintal and the highest is Rs 2610 per quintal in the state.

The corporation officials said that the market intervention methods are intended to benefit the farmers. The number of purchase centres was increased this season.

The corporation is focusing its attention to issues related to supply chain optimization for transportation of foodgrains, improvement in infrastructure in the procurement centres and improvement in milling practices also.