Paddy procurement begins in Odisha's Ganjam district

The process of paddy procurement has commenced in Odisha's Ganjam district with 30 mandis opening in different parts of the district yesterday.
It will take a day or two for the process to gather momentum, district civil supplies officer (CSO) Bishnu Prasad Supakar said, adding that all formalities, including activating computers for online payment to farmers, have been completed.
"We are also in the process of signing agreements with millers. Generally the agreements are inked only after starting the procurement process," Supakar said.
The district administration has decided to open over 400 mandis this time, 21 more in number than the previous year.

"We have decided to open more mandis this time for the convenience of the farmers," said Deputy Registrar of Cooperative Societies (DRCS) Sushant Panda.
The DRCS said 1.03 lakh farmers have already registered their names for supplying paddy to the mandis. Of them, around 25,000 farmers are new and over 20,100 are share-croppers.

"Our target is to register around 1.57 lakh farmers this year," he added.
The minimum support price (MSP) of the common variety of paddy conforming to fair average quality (FAQ) is Rs 1,550 per quintal while for Grade A variety (FAQ) kharif, the price is Rs 1,590, an official said.

Meanwhile, several farmers' organisations in the district have urged the government to purchase all kinds of paddy irrespective of their quality at MSP.