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The assurance given by the political parties to pay higher price to the farmers for the paddy had reportedly affected the inflow of the yield in the societies.
The paddy procurement in the state started on October 21.
“As of now, 2,91,000 Metric Tonnes of paddy had been procured in the state,” official spokesperson of the state government said. The paddy arrival process across the state was gaining momentum, he added.
The state government had set a target to procure 7.2 Million Tonnes (MT) of paddy from the farmers in the kharif marketing season 2013-14. The paddy procurement would continue till February 15. In the last marketing season, the state government had procured 7.1 MT of paddy.
The state-run Marketing Federation (MARFED) had set up 1,333 primary cooperative societies constituted at the village level to purchase paddy from the farmers. In all, 1970 procurement centres had been set up across the state.
The farmers this year would be entitled to get Rs 1345 for a quintal A-grade paddy while those selling common grade would get Rs 1310 for a quintal.
“It is really surprising that the paddy arrival in the societies has been very low,” Dr Sanket Thakur, director of Agricon—a non-government organization working in agriculture sector—said. As a month had passed after the process started, the arrival could have been many folds, he added.
The “commitment” made by different political parties could be one of the reasons for the reluctance of farmers to sell paddy, he observed.
Former chief minister and senior Congress leader Ajit Jogi had openly asked farmers not to sell paddy. For, he said the Congress government was coming to power in Chhattisgarh and the farmers would get Rs 2,000 for a quintal of paddy.
Similarly, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had promised to fight for the farmers to get Rs 2,100 as minimum support price for a quintal of paddy. The polling in two phases had been completed in the state and people were waiting for December 8 when the counting would take place.
Those who are coming with the produce to the societies are selling paddy only in compulsion. Others are just waiting for the next government to be in the place.
