HYDERABAD : Paddy procurement for the Rabi season has concluded in the state. The government procured 48 lakh metric tonnes from nearly nine lakh farmers, disbursing payments amounting to Rs 10,547 crore to the accounts of 8,99,546 farmers as MSP.
To facilitate the procurement during the Rabi season, the government operated 7,178 procurement centres, an increase from 6,889 centres last year.
Initially, the Civil Supplies Department estimated procuring 75.40 lakh metric tonnes of paddy this year. However, due to higher market prices and competition from private traders offering better rates, the actual grain received at the centres fell short of the estimate.
According to sources, paddy was allocated for milling only to those millers who had returned 100 percent of the custom milled rice. Out of the 1,532 millers in the state, 116 have faced action under the Revenue Recovery Act for failing to return the rice. From December 2023 to May 2024, 28,000 metric tonnes of custom milled rice were recovered from these millers.
Officials noted that in previous years, farmers faced delays in payment despite the completion of procurement. This year, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy instructed that farmers should not be made to wait for their money. Consequently, the Civil Supplies Department achieved a record by disbursing payments to all farmers within three days of procurement completion. Additionally, following the Chief Minister’s directives, the government also procured soaked paddy at the procurement centres.