Kharif paddy procurement begins in Odisha

Bhubaneswar, Nov 20 (PTI) The Odisha government on Wednesday started the Kharif paddy procurement process from Bargarh district.
    The paddy procurement process started with Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare minister KC Patra performing a special puja at Kalapani market yard, a government mandi in Bargarh district.
    "The BJP has fulfilled its promise made during the Assembly election and the farmers will be paid Rs 3,100 per quintal of paddy from today," Patra told reporters.
    While the minimum support price (MSP) of paddy fixed by the central government is Rs 2,300 per quintal, the state government will provide Rs 800 per quintal as additional assistance to farmers, Patra said, adding that the paddy procurement will start in Sambalpur district on Thursday and be extended to other districts in phases.
    Over 1.55 lakh farmers have registered names to sell paddy in Bargarh. Cooperative societies and central government agencies will procure paddy directly from farmers. The government has appointed a supervisor for four mandis each to ensure smooth procurement.
    The minister said a supervisor has been in charge of four to five mandis while each procurement centre will have a quality testing machine to check the fair average quality of the harvested paddy coming for sale.
    This apart, the minister said the transport department has been supervising the transportation of paddy from mandi to rice mills. He said district collectors have been authorised to take decisions at their level to safeguard the interest of farmers.
    The minister said patrolling teams have been deployed in border districts to ensure that paddy from neighbouring states does not enter Odisha for sale in the mandis during the procurement period.
    The Odisha government has set a target to procure 80 lakh tonne paddy in the current kharif marketing season (KMS) 2024-25.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)