Agartala, May 26 (UNI) To boost the rural economy, the Tripura government has decided to procure 20,000 MT of paddy at a Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rs 18.68 per kg from the farmers through FCI like previous years.
Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Pranajit Singharoy said that an estimated amount of Rs 37.36 Cr will reach the paddy producers where the state government would spend Rs 5.28 Cr in the process of milling the rice, as it is higher in Tripura than in other states of the country and FCI would not agree to pay more than it’s pan India rate.
He said the BJP-IPFT government in Tripura has begun direct paddy procurement from the farmers soon after it came to power in 2018 to boost paddy cultivation. In the last three years about 60,000 MT of paddy was procured through FCI and the farmers have been disbursed Rs 107.66 Cr.
“Since the beginning, we have been observing that the targeted amount of paddy could not be procured through FCI but the ultimate benefit has been going to the farmers. Earlier, there was no presence of FCI procurement and the cultivators were solely dependent on the middlemen and hardly, the farmers got the price of Rs 10 per kg. After the state government ensured procurement through MSP, middlemen have also increased the rate substantially. So, the farmers now sell the paddy near to MSP at cash in their house to the private parties, if not come to FCI,” Singharoy stated.
The minister, however, underlined that the government has the target to provide benefits to farmers and in the last three years agriculture and horticulture departments have channelised the marketing of pineapple, lemon, jackfruit, watermelon, orange and other citrus fruits within and outside the state at a handsome price.
“The pineapple, lemon, tea and jack fruit of Tripura have already hit Europe and Middle East besides, Indian cities because of their taste and quality. The organic vegetables, aromatic rice, honey and many of our indigenous products have also been recognised internationally and opened up the scope of entrepreneurship,” he claimed.
According to him, the Tripura government has emphasized making the state self-sufficient in rice production. Tripura distributed about 19000 MT rice in PDS and annually rice requirement of the state is 23 lakh MT, which is coming from other states.
Approximately, an amount of Rs 7500 Cr is spent annually that the Tripura government targeted to pluck, he added.
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