Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation (Supplyco) is likely to procure about 6 lakh tonnes of paddy from farmers in the state during 2014-15.
'The total paddy procurement during 2014-15 (Khariff and Rabi seasons) is likely to be 6 lakh tonnes against 5 lakh tonnes during 2013-14 and 3.6 lakh tonnes during the 2012-13, Supplyco Managing Director, Lakshman Gugulloth, told reporters here.
The total procurement has seen an increase of about 40 per cent during 2013-14 as compared to 2012-13, he said.
Supplyco procured only 1.86 lakh tonnes during the 2012-13 season as there was loss of crop, he said.
The corporation will be disbursing rs 150 crore to paddy farmers this week. With this payment for the Paddy Receipt Sheet (PRS) up to march 31 will be completed in all the districts. Earlier, an amount of rs 125 crore was paid to paddy farmers towards the cost of paddy during Feb and March this year, he said.
About 3.2 lakh tonnes of paddy has been procured by Supplyco from about one lakh paddy farmers of the state so far during the 2013-14 second season. It is expected that about 80,000 tonnes will be procured during may.
The Corporation, which has over 1200 retail outlets, was targetting a turnover of rs 5000 crore this financial year against rs 3415 crore in the last fiscal.
