State govt to begin paddy procurement from Dec 15

Ranchi: The state government will begin procurement of paddy in the state from December 15. Officials in the state food and civil supplies department on Monday said that all the districts have been directed to make the procurement centres functional for seamless procurement activities.
This year, the state government has slashed the minimum support price (MSP) following a cabinet decision as part of which it will provide Rs 2,040 per quintal for normal paddy and Rs 2,060 per quintal for grade-A quality of paddy. This apart, farmers will be provided Rs 10 per quintal as an additional bonus this year. Last year, the government had fixed MSP of Rs 2,050/quintal for normal grade and Rs 2,070/quintal for superior one.
The state government has fixed a target of procuring 8 lakh metric tonnes of paddy.
“To ensure fair play and include more farmers under the ambit, an upper ceiling of 200 quintal per farmer has been fixed for procurement. This means, from one farmer, we won’t procure more than 200 quintal. This is to curb the racket of hoarding and middlemen, who often used to buy paddy at throwaway prices from poor farmers and used to sell at MSP rates,” said an official, adding that this concept was introduced last year.
To encourage more sale, farmers will be given 50% payment on the spot and the rest will be provided in two-three months after verification.
Sources said that the slash in MSP was in view of the drought. “Unlike last year, we aren’t expecting bumper produce as 226 out of 260 blocks in the state have been declared drought hit this time. Additional, the government has announced to provide compensation of Rs 3,500 per farmer,” said a source.
Ranchi district’s procurement officer Albert Bilung, on the other hand, said that they have earmarked 33 MSP centres this year. “Last time, we had 27 centres but we have increased this time. As per the directives from the government, all the centres will begin paddy procurement from Thursday (Dec 15). We have set a target of procuring 5.75 quintals,” he said.