Good News : West Bengal to Launch Kharif Paddy Procurement Scheme for Farmers

The government of West Bengal is planning to reveal a scheme to obtain kharif paddy for its public distribution framework, as it tries to keep up unhampered stock and supply of free rice to almost 10 crore individuals till coming June, a state minister said. 

Under the new scheme to be launched, the govt. expects to enlist more than 30 lakh farmers, Jyotipriya Mallick, state food and civil supplies minister said. Almost 13 lakh of an expected 72 lakh paddy farmers in West Bengal have enlisted themselves for the scheme up until now, he added.

Mallick clarified, "We will be trying to contact farmers as much as we can, with an intent to secure paddy to keep up unhampered supply of rice for our public distribution framework. The scheme will begin soon and we will start securing paddy by the end of this month". 

A good harvest in this season compared to a lower demand has hit paddy costs, which have fallen underneath the government declared minimum support price (MSP), a senior authority of the agriculture dept. said. 

"A ceiling on the measurement of paddy to be obtained from every farmer will be imposed. This will assist us with enlisting more farmers under this scheme," he said. The govt. will acquire around 45 quintals of paddy from every farmer. 

A year ago, the largest obtainment went up to 90 quintals for each farmer and was provided MSP of Rs 1,868 for every quintal. "The value, this time, is yet to be fixed. It will be decided as per the interest of the ranchers," the authority said. 

The state additionally has plans to set up a unique observation framework to guarantee that the enlisted ranchers offer their reap to the public authority and not to hoarders, he added.