Telangana’s Vanakalam paddy procurement set to break records

Paddy procurement pertaining to the Vanakalam season is set to break all records as 38.06 lakh metric tonnes have already been procured

Hyderabad: Paddy procurement pertaining to the Vanakalam season is set to break all records as 38.06 lakh metric tonnes have already been procured till date through 6,734 procurement centres in the State.

This was way higher than the paddy procured in November last year, when 25.84 lakh metric tonnes were procured, Civil Supplies Minister Gangula Kamalakar said here on Saturday.

Till Friday, 38.06 lakh metric tonnes was procured from 6.42 lakh farmers in the State through 6,734 procurement centres. Of these, 36.87 lakh metric tonnes was shifted to rice mills, he said at a meeting with officials.

The total worth of paddy procured till date was Rs.7,837 crore and Rs.4,780 crore was paid to the farmers. As part of procurement, 9.52 lakh gunny bags were utilized and additional 9.16 lakh gunny bags were readily available to ensure there was no inconvenience for farmers. Further has procurement was completed in many areas as per schedule, 729 procurement centres were closed.

All basic facilities like paddy cleaners, moisture machines, tarpaulins and others were arranged at all the procurement centres to expedite the procurement process.

“Thanks to Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao’s pro-farmer policies and availability of sufficient of water, the quality of paddy has increased further this year,” Kamalakar said.

“Telangana has yet again evolved as the rice bowl of India. The Minimum Support Price offered to farmers is higher than the price offered by private buyers,” the Minister said, adding that this was a good sign for the farming community.

Since harvesting was being completed in December, all measures were being taken to complete the procurement at the earliest and arrangements were being made accordingly, he added.