 "UP eyes paddy procurement of Rs 15K crore in 2023-24 kharif season")
The Uttar Pradesh government is targeting to procure paddy worth over Rs 15,000 crore in the upcoming 2023-24 kharif marketing season in a bid to boost its rural economy.
Paddy procurement will commence on October 1 and continue till February 2024, starting with western UP and later cover the eastern part as well.
According to UP principal secretary, food and civil supplies, Alok Kumar, the state has set a target to procure 7 million tonnes (MT) of paddy under the minimum support price (MSP) mechanism.
The MSP for common variety and grade-A paddy has been fixed at Rs 2,183 and Rs 2,203 per quintal (100 kg) respectively. This translates into procurement of Rs 15,000 crore worth of paddy if the state achieves its target. “We will accord priority to small and medium farmers, whose net harvest is less than 60 quintals, so that they do not face a ‘distress sale’ situation,” he added.
The state food commissioner has been entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring that small and medium farmers do not resort to distress sale or face hurdles at the procurement centres.
Since Lok Sabha elections are due in early 2024, the state government is taking steps to keep farmers in good humour and ensure prompt payment.
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Meanwhile, about 4,000 paddy procurement centres will be set up in UP, of which 200 centres will be run by the Food Corporation of India (FCI). Around 1,600 centres will be set up by the UP Cooperative Federation, followed by the state food department at 1,350, among others.
Moreover, the procurement centres, rice mills and FCI warehouses/depots will be geo-tagged by the Remote Sensing Application Centre (RSAC) to help bring transparency.