Kharif season 2022-23: Paddy procurement gathers pace in Chhattisgarh

Paddy procurement for the kharif marketing season 2022-23 is progressing smoothly across Chhattisgarh even as the state government procured over 3 million tonnes (MT) till early this week.

The state government started the paddy procurement from November 1 and it would continue till January 31.

Chhattisgarh is among the few states in the country that is purchasing paddy from the farmers at minimum support price (MSP).

The Bhupesh Baghel government is paying a bonus to the farmers under the Rajiv Gandhi Nyay Yojana and facilitating them to get Rs 2,500 for a quintal of yield.

Against the 9.8 MT of paddy procurement in the last kharif marketing season, the Chhattisgarh government has set a target of 11 MT this year.

A statement issued by the Baghel government said 3.03 MT of paddy has been purchased by the state till Monday.

Against the purchase, nearly Rs 6,365 crore has been paid to 820,852 farmers.

The entire system is being closely monitored so that farmers do not face any kind of problem while selling paddy, the statement said. It added that a sufficient quantity of gunny bags is available in all the procurement centres.

The officials said due to proper arrangements for paddy procurement, farmers are reaching the procurement centres with great enthusiasm and the progress is smooth. The ‘Token Tunhar Haath (Token at your hand)’ mobile app has been developed for the convenience of farmers coming to sell their paddy.

The system would prevent them from waiting in long queues as they would be getting tokens online through the mobile app.

Besides, tokens are also being issued manually in advance, keeping in view the convenience of farmers.

Chhattisgarh food secretary Topeshwar Verma said during the current season, nearly 2.5 million farmers have been registered across the state to sell paddy at the state-run societies. Of this, 223,000 are new registrations. As many as 2,568 procurement centres have been set up for paddy procurement in the state.

This year, common grade paddy is being purchased from farmers at the rate of Rs 2,040 per quintal while farmers are getting Rs 2,060 for a quintal of grade-A paddy.

Verma said strict vigil had been maintained through check posts to prevent illegal transportation of paddy from bordering states.