Telangana to procure 80 lakh metric tons paddy this Yasangi

In wake of Covid pandemic last year, govt had procured crops by establishing 6,400 paddy purchasing centers in every village, and this year too, there would be a similar number of centres would be set up, informed the Minister

Karimnagar: BC Welfare and Civil Supplies Minister Gangula Kamalakar on Monday said 80 lakh metric ton of Yasangi paddy would be procured through 6,400 paddy purchasing centres across the State.

In the wake of Covid-19 pandemic last year, the government had procured crops by establishing 6,400 paddy purchasing centers in every village, and this year too, there would be a similar number of centres would be set up, he said.

The Minister was speaking at a review meeting on paddy procurement with the chairmen of PACS, rice millers, owners of lorry associations, officials of civil supplies and marketing departments and Tahsildhars at collectorate auditorium here.

Later, speaking to reporters, Kamalakar informed that the highest of 1.32 crore metric tons yield is expected to arrive in the season and the state government was ready to procure the crop.

During the 2019-20 Yasangi season, paddy was sowed in 40 lakh acres and 1 crore metric tons yield was arrived. This time, the cultivation area has been enhanced to 52 lakh acres and 1.32 crore metric tons of crop is expected. So, the government has decided to procure 80 lakh metric tons as against 64 lakh metric purchased in the last season.

Food Corporation of India had tried to escape from procurement of such a huge quantity of paddy by showing various reasons. However, the Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao took initiative and convinced FCI to purchase 80 lakh metric tons from Telangana. Out of the total paddy procured by FCI, 56 percent was from Telangana. On the other hand, the civil supplies department was well equipped to purchase the produce. The State government provided Rs 28,000 crore loans to the civil supplies department and the amount was deposited with the account of the department. So, there was no shortfall of money and payments would be made to farmers within three days, the Minister said.

There was a requirement of 21 crore gunny bags to procure 80 lakh metric tons, and 20 crore gunny bags were already available with the department, he said, adding that efforts were on to purchase more bags.

Informing that procurement has already started in some districts, he said 20,000 metric ton was purchased from 2,700 farmers through 625 PPCs. Pointing out that no state government was providing minimum support price for paddy, Kamalakar said Telangana was the only state which was providing Rs 1,888 MSP.

When asked about the setting aside a part of the produce from every bag in the name of substandard crop last year, the Minister made it clear that there was no question of such practice. He advised farmers to bring the best quality and well cleaned paddy and get remunerative price.

Talking about increase in area under cultivation and yield, Kamalakar said that in united Andhra Pradesh, farmers were not interested in cultivation due to water scarcity and power supply. However, the situation changed after the formation of Telangana state.

In order to protect the interests of the farming community by strengthening the agriculture sector, the Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao took a number of initiatives. Besides supplying 24 hours uninterrupted current to the agriculture sector, Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project was completed with an aim to turn parched lands into green fields.

Rythu Bandhu, and Rythu Bima have also been provided besides fertiliser and seeds. With all these initiatives, the confidence among the farmers increased subsequently and they were cultivating crops without any apprehensions, he said.

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