Hyderabad: Paddy procurement for the ongoing Yasangi (Rabi) season is all set to begin at 6,408 procurement centres across the State on Tuesday. Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy will formally launch the paddy purchase at Kesamudram in Suryapet district.
Paddy was cultivated in around 52.76 lakh acres during the Yasangi season in the State. The total paddy yield is estimated to be around 1.38 crore tonnes including 1.17 crore tonnes of coarse variety and 21 lakh tonnes of fine variety. Of this, the government will purchase about 80 lakh tonne which will be supplied to the Food Corporation of India (FCI). While the millers in the State will buy 20 lakh tonne, seed companies will buy another 10 lakh tonne and millers from other States are likely to purchase the remaining paddy crop.
Amid rising cases of Covid-19, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao had recently announced that the State government will procure paddy crop through Telangana State Civil Supplies Corporation as was done for the Yasangi crop during lockdown last year, benefiting lakhs of farmers. Accordingly, the officials made all the arrangements for purchase of Yasangi crop as per Covid-19 guidelines to ensure that there is no overcrowding at the procurement centres.
Out of 6,408 procurement centres being established, there will be 2,131 Indira Kranthi Patham (IKP) centres (rural markets), 3,964 primary agriculture cooperative societies (PACS) and 313 other smaller markets. The officials have been directed to ensure minimum support price (MSP) for paddy brought to the procurement centres with moisture content below 17 per cent. Farmers were also informed to bring paddy without husk and discolored or infested grains to the procurement centres.
Following the Chief Minister’s directions, the officials have made arrangements to give Rs 20,000 crore bank guarantee to enable the Civil Supplies Corporation purchase the paddy and make payments to the farmers at the earliest. The officials have also arranged for around 20 crore gunny bags and kept them ready at the procurement centres.
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