Odisha records 13% more farmers’ registration

BHUBANESWAR: The state government on Tuesday said 13% more farmers have registered with various primary agriculture cooperative societies (PACS) to sell their Kharif paddy under the price support system. Last date for farmers’ registration for procurement of kharif paddy was September 7.
State food supplies and consumer welfare minister Ranendra Pratap Swain said over 14.02 lakh farmers have registered their names to sell their paddy at the minimum support price at state-sponsored procurement centres for kharif 2020-21 year. During 2019-20 kharif year, 12.35 lakh farmers had registered their names.
“The online farmers registration was done by adhering to all guidelines issued by the state government in view of the Covid-19 pandemic situation. I commend the officials of the food supplies and consumer welfare department and cooperation department for carrying out the registration exercise properly,” said Swain.
The registration of farmers was done through 2,852 designated PACS and large area multipurpose societies in all 30 districts. While almost all districts have witnessed growth in farmers registration compared to last year, districts like Nuapada, Balangir, Jajpur, Mayurbhanj, Jharsuguda, Deogarh, Bhadrak, Dhenkanal, Angul, Jagatsinghpur and Koraput have recorded significant growth in farmers’ registration.
The procurement in Odisha is being done though the paddy procurement automation system (P-PAS), an online platform that ensures transparency in procurement and helps in timely transfer of payments to the farmers bank account.