"A tentative target of 36 lakh metric Tonne (LMT) in terms of rice has been fixed. The target is for entire KMS covering kharif and rabi procurement," chief secretary A P Padhi told reporters here.
Paddy is procured from farmers by payment of minimum support prices (MSP) and thereafter it is milled through custom millers. The rice obtained is pumped into state's public distribution system (PDS), he said.
During 2015-16 and 2016-17, 50.7 LMT and 54.27 LMT paddy was procured respectively, he said, adding that this includes both kharif and rabi paddy.
Khariff paddy will be procured during the period between November 2017 and April 2018, and rabi paddy will be procured in May-June 2018.