Paddy Procurement Meets 89% of Target, up 6% from Previous Year

Official data show that overall paddy procurement in the country reached 699.48 lakh tonnes (lt) on February 21, up from 658.13 lt a year ago. In terms of rice, the aim for this Kharif season is 528.26 lt (paddy equivalent 788.45 lt). In terms of rice, the current procurement is 469.43 lt.

The government has set a goal of procuring 774.85 metric tonnes of paddy from the Kharif crop. While procurement has already been completed in important states like Bihar, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Haryana, and Madhya Pradesh, it will be completed in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and Tamil Nadu by March 31.

The formal purchase in Uttar Pradesh, the country's second-largest rice producer, will be concluded this month, while it will continue in West Bengal until June 30.

So far, the ongoing procurement activities have benefited 94.90 lakh farmers, for which the Centre has already spent 1,37,098.07 crore at the MSP value of 1,960 per quintal, which is the buying price of paddy.

Target Surpassed

Purchases in Telangana, which started late due to a standoff between the state and the centre over parboiled rice, exceeded the target by 1.56 lt at 70.22 lakh tonnes, while in Chhattisgarh, purchases were suspended after attaining the objective of 92.01 lt.

These two states have emerged as major rice providers to the Central Pool, and they may replace Punjab and Haryana as alternate supplies if the government decides to abandon the northern states due to groundwater depletion.

Paddy procurement in Uttar Pradesh has declined by 2 lt to 64.11 lt, falling barely 6 lt short of the objective. It is 4.4 litres short of the target in Haryana, at 55.30 litres, and nearly 19 litres short in Punjab, at 187.51 litres.

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