Chhattisgarh: Paddy procurement on MSP to begin concurrently with Rajyotsav from November 1

Raipur. Procurement of paddy on minimum support price (MSP) for the Kharif marketing year 2022-23 will begin in Chhattisgarh from November 1, 2022, concurrently with 'Rajyotsav' (State Foundation Day celebrations).

The estimated paddy to be procured at MSP this year is about 110 lakh metric tonnes. New farmer registration and rectification in registered crops/areas has already started from July 01 and will be continued till October 31 this year. So far, about 24.62 lakh farmers have registered for the current Kharif marketing year including 60,878 new registrations. The new registration and rectification work will continue till October 31.

Secretary (Food) Topeshwar Verma informed that in accordance with the announcement of Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, paddy procurement will commence from November 1, 2022, for the Kharif marketing year 2022-23. All necessary preparations and arrangements have been made by the state government for making the process systematic and convenient for the farmers. Continuous monitoring of the procurement work will also be ensured.

Verma informed that 24.05 lakh farmers have been carried forward since the last Kharif year and new registration of 60,878 farmers has been done taking the total registration tally to 24.62 lakh farmers. Nearly 30.25 lakh hectares area has been carried forward and 0.49 lakh hectare area has been registered this year taking the total tally to 30.44 lakh hectares. In the Kharif marketing year 2022-23, the maximum limit for the purchase of paddy from farmers on support price is set as 15 quintals per acre with linking as per the previous year. Arrangements for gunny bags have been made for the purchase of paddy. The committees concerned have been directed to supply the gunny bags.

Department officials said that the mill registration work has also started. Instructions have been issued to the district collectors regarding the appointment of nodal officers to check the illegal arrival paddy in paddy procurement centers and to identify sensitive procurement centers. The date has also been fixed for providing training related to paddy procurement.

Besides, necessary provision has been made in the software for paddy procurement and a trial run of the same will be done in the upcoming week. Instructions have also been circulated to the District Collectors and District Marketing Officers at the government and marketing union level to ensure preliminary preparations for the procurement of paddy in the state. Nodal officers have also been appointed by the government at the district level for monitoring the paddy procurement operations.