Record purchase of 144.92 lakh tonnes of paddy from farmers
More than 24 lakh 72 thousand farmers sold paddy
Payment of Rs 30 thousand 68 crore to farmers in lieu of paddy purchase
Raipur, 5 February 2024. As per the guarantee of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the largest ever purchase of paddy at support price has been made in Chhattisgarh. In this campaign which ran from November 1 to February 04, 144.92 lakh tonnes of paddy has been purchased from more than 24 lakh 72 thousand farmers. This is the biggest paddy purchase so far after the creation of Chhattisgarh. It was estimated that 130 lakh tonnes of paddy would be purchased this year. If we compare this year’s paddy procurement, it is 37.39 lakh tonnes more than the previous paddy procurement. Last year 107.53 lakh tonnes of paddy was purchased.
To fulfill the guarantee of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, Chhattisgarh government purchased paddy from farmers at the rate of 21 quintals per acre. Paddy has been purchased from farmers at the rate of Rs 3100 per quintal. At present support price has been paid to the farmers. Soon the difference amount will be paid to the farmers. In the paddy procurement season, 144.92 lakh tonnes of paddy has been purchased from more than 24 lakh 72 thousand farmers. In lieu of this, Rs 30 thousand 68 crore 81 lakh has been paid to the farmers.
In view of the demands and problems of farmers and farmer representatives, Chief Minister Shri Vishnu Dev Sai had extended the period of paddy procurement from January 31 to February 4. Those farmers who due to some reasons could not sell paddy till January 31, got the benefit of this sensitive decision of the Chief Minister. More than 19 thousand farmers have benefited from the extended period for paddy procurement. Between February 1 and February 4, 2.69 lakh tonnes of paddy was purchased.
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. Parallel to the arrangements for paddy procurement, 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 105.36 lakh tonnes of paddy, against which 98.41 lakh tonnes of paddy has been lifted by the millers.
