MALKANGIRI: The procurement of kharif paddy will start from November 25 in the district. This was decided at a district-level procurement committee meeting chaired by Collector Manish Agarwal here.
The district administration has also decided to take steps to make the procurement process transparent and farmer-friendly so that distress sale can be prevented. While in case of non-irrigated fields, 16 quintals of paddy per acre would be procured from farmers, 19 quintals of paddy per acre would be procured from irrigated fields.
According to Deputy Director, Agriculture Department, Malkangiri Rama Chandra Patnaik, paddy was grown in 73,116 hectares (ha) in the current season against 73,116 ha last year.
As many as 33,097 farmers have registered for the procurement so far, he added. A total of 62 procurement centres (mandis), two more than last year, have been opened across seven panchayats where eight different Large Area Multi-Purpose Cooperative Societies (LAMPS) would procure 8.2 lakh quintal paddy from the farmers in the first phase as per the Minimum Support Price (MSP) announced by the Centre. While the common variety paddy will be procured at `1750 per quintal, the Grade-A variety paddy will be procured at `1770 per quintal, said District Civil Supply Officer Abhimanyu Mohanty.
There will be a monitoring team and nodal officers for each mandi to supervise the process. District-level control rooms will run round-the-clock in the supply office and the district-level squad will be constituted for the purpose.
“Steps will be taken by Regulated Marketing Committees (RMCs) to sensitise farmers through publicity. There will be no role for middlemen. Strict action will be taken against any official or miller who will deviate from the policy of procurement and disturb the process,” the Collector said.
The RMCs will provide the required infrastructure facilities for the farmers in the paddy purchasing centres, including temporary storage space, resting sheds, tarpaulin and polythene sheets to cover purchased paddy and drinking water facilities. The facilities will be made available before the commencement of the procurement process.