ONGOLE: Prakasam district authorities, following government directives, initiated the registration process for red gram farmers on Thursday.
The State government has appointed Markfed as the nodal agency for red gram procurement during the 2024 Kharif season, with purchases supervised by the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) at prevailing market rates.
Officials reported that 73,091 farmers have registered through the e-crop system for cultivating red gram across 70,817 hectares in the district. Authorities project a yield of 72,391 metric tonnes this season. Farmers are urged to register at Rythu Seva Kendrams starting Thursday, providing details of their crop cultivation extent and expected harvest dates. This information will assist authorities in contacting farmers for stock purchases post-harvest.
Joint Collector R Gopala Krishna chaired a meeting recently to inspect arrangements for the registration process. He instructed officials to ensure all arrangements are in place at the centres. He advised farmers to maintain moisture levels below 12% in their produce to secure better market prices.