Tamil Nadu reports record procurement of paddy for Kharif season

Tamil Nadu has reported a record procurement of paddy for the Kharif marketing season that ended in September.  

The state government had targeted to procure 32 lakh tonnes during the season and it ended up procuring 32.41 lakh tonnes. This was much higher than the the 19.1 lakh tonnes procured in the previous season ended September 2019.

The paddy was procured from 5,85,241 farmers through 2,135 centres, Tamil Nadu  food minister R Kamaraj said.

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A statement from the minister said, “The 32.41 lakh tonnes of paddy procured is the highest in the history of Tamil Nadu.” He said the government and disbursed a total of Rs 6,130 crore for the procurement and it was directly transferred to the accounts of the bank accounts of farmers. This amount included incentives worth Rs 205 crore, he said. 

He said the procurement for the current Khariff marketing season began on October 1. As October 2 was a public holiday for Gandhi Jayanti, the procurement centres in the state would function on Sunday (October 4). 

The state government would provide an additional incentive of Rs 70 per quintal over the minimum support price (MSP) announced by the Centre for the thin variety of rice for the new season, he said. For the normal variety, the incentive would be Rs 50.

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The Centre has set an MSP of Rs 1,888 per quintal for the thin variety for the season starting from October 1 and Rs 1,868 per quintal for the normal variety.

Kamaraj said the state has so far opened 591 direct procurement centres (DPCs) for paddy procurement. District collectors have been given the permission to open additional DPCs if needed, he said. Kamaraj dismissed allegations that there has been a delay in procuring paddy from the Cauvery delta region. He said 227 DPCs have been opened in Thanjavur district, 189 in Tiruvarur, 126 in Nagapattinam and 43 in Cuddalore — the districts that for the delta region.