In a statement, he said the Centre had announced a minimum support price of Rs 850 per quintal for core variety of paddy and Rs 880 for fine variety.
In a bid to encourage farmers to increase their productivity and to ensure food security, the state government has decided to procure core variety at the rate of Rs 1,000 per quintal and fine variety at Rs 1,050, he said.
The Union Cabinet yesterday raised the MSP for paddy by Rs 105 to Rs 850 per quintal for this year as an ad hoc measure before leaving the matter to the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council for final decision on increasing it to Rs 1,000 as recommended by Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices.