 "paddy farmer")
Paddy procurement in Chhattisgarh picked up pace after the Assembly election results were declared last month and the state is on course to meet its target of purchasing 13 million tonnes (MT) from farmers at minimum support price (MSP) during the Kharif marketing season 2023-24. The paddy procurement started on November 1, last year, and will continue till January 31, 2024.
“The paddy flow was very slow in the first one and a half months and stunned the authorities,” a senior official in the cooperative department said, adding that in the last month, there has been a mad rush and the purchase increased by over 190 per cent.
Till December 10, 2023, only 3.1 MT of paddy was purchased. General Manager of the state-run Marketing Federation Dilip Jaiswal said that as of January 10, over 9.1 MT of paddy has been purchased at the MSP.
While 700,000 farmers had sold the yield a month ago, the figure increased to 1.8 million as of January 10, 2024, Jaiswal said. More than Rs 20,208 crore has been paid to farmers against the procurement, he said, adding that in the current Kharif marketing season, farmers will get an additional Rs 65,100 as the state government is procuring 21 quintals of paddy per acre for Rs 3,100 per quintal. The previous government was purchasing 15 quintals per acre, paying Rs 2,500 for a quintal.
Ahead of the November assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, the BJP had promised to pay Rs 3,100 per quintal and increase the cap from 15 to 21 quintals per acre. The then-ruling Congress announced that it would pay higher and promised Rs 3,200 per quintal to farmers if returned to power. The party also announced that it will increase the procurement limit from 15 quintals to 20 quintals per acre.
Laxmi Chouhan, a social activist working in the agriculture sector, said the sops announced by both parties had delayed the procurement process in the state. Only after the poll results were declared on December 3, farmers started to approach the societies with the produce, he added. Soon after assuming office on December 13, Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai ordered the price and cap of paddy procurement be increased.
