CG NEWS: Record paddy purchase: More than 25 lakh farmers sold 144.92 lakh metric tonnes

Raipur. In the state of Chhattisgarh, the process of purchasing paddy from farmers at support price, which had been going on for the last 96 days, stopped today. According to the report, a record 144.92 lakh metric tonnes of paddy has been purchased at support price. This quantity of procured paddy is 37.39 lakh metric tonnes more than the 107.53 lakh metric tonnes purchased in the last Kharif marketing year 2022-23. This new record of paddy procurement has been set in the state this year, while the final report is yet to come.

It is noteworthy here that the process of purchasing paddy at support price in the state started from November 1, 2023. The last date for paddy purchase in the current Kharif marketing year was fixed as January 31. In view of the demands and problems of farmers and farmer representatives, Chief Minister Vishnu Dev Sai had extended the period of paddy procurement from January 31 to February 4. Its benefit has been given to those farmers of the state who were not able to sell their paddy till January 31 due to certain reasons. More than 19 thousand farmers have benefited from this sensitive decision of the Chief Minister and they have sold 2.69 lakh tonnes of paddy at support price between February 1 and February 4. The number of farmers and the quantity of paddy sold by them is likely to increase further when the final report comes.

The procurement of 130 lakh tonnes of paddy in the current Kharif marketing year in the state was estimated. Due to record procurement of paddy, the estimated procurement figure has been left far behind. This year, 26.85 lakh farmers of the state had registered themselves to sell paddy. The registered paddy area was 33.51 lakh hectares. Till 7 pm on February 4, 24 lakh 72 thousand 310 farmers in the state had sold 144 lakh 92 thousand tonnes of paddy at the support price. Till now, Rs 30 thousand 68 crore 81 lakh has been paid to the farmers for selling paddy.

Parallel to the system of purchasing paddy at support price in the state, the work of custom milling is also going on at a fast pace. Out of 144.92 lakh tonnes of paddy procured, DO has been issued for lifting of 105.18 lakh tonnes of paddy, against which 97.90 lakh tonnes of paddy has been lifted by the millers.