Agencies of Uttar Pradesh government have so far procured 1.32 lakh metric tons (MT) of paddy directly from the farmers in the ongoing Kharif marketing season at minimum support price (MSP), thereby benefitting more than 1.62 lakh farmers across the state.
Official sources said the state government had ensured that the farmers were not harassed and adequate arrangements were made for the purchase of their produce at the official procurement centres.
Food Commissioner Saurabh Babu informed that the state government agencies and Food Corporation of India (FCI) have procured more than 24,400 MT of paddy in the last 24 hours and the process of paddy procurement is being conducted smoothly across the state.
“At the MSP, the government has procured paddy worth Rs 2200.50 crore from 1,62,569 farmers,” he said.
Earlier, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had instructed officials to ensure smooth purchase of paddy and asked additional district magistrates, sub-divisional magistrate and tehsildars to monitor the purchase by conducting on-site inspection of purchase centres.
A total of 4,010 procurement centres have been set up across the state to facilitate direct purchase from farmers against last year’s 3,849 centres in 73 districts. The MSP of Grade A variety paddy has been fixed at Rs 1,960 per quintal while for common variety the MSP is Rs 1,940 per quintal.
