RAIPUR: The Vishnu Deo Sai government is set to procure paddy at the minimum support price (MSP) from Thursday. The process will continue till January 31, 2025 in the ongoing Kharif season.
Ahead of upcoming polls of urban bodies and a three-tier panchayats, the paddy procurement assumes significance in shaping the opinion of the farmers for the ruling party.
“Preparations have been put in place in all 2,739 procurement centres across the state,” said Food Minister Dayal Das Baghel. The process will be carried out through a biometric-based system to ensure transparency and the farmers will be given tokens as per their eligibility. A helpline number has been issued and a control room set up to attend the complaints of farmers in paddy procurement centres.
The government has raised the paddy procurement estimated target to 160 lakh metric ton (LMT), the highest so far.
The total registered paddy growers this year are more than 27 lakh. The state has also witnessed a significant increase in the net sown paddy area with a total 34.52 lakh hectare, an increase of over a lakh hectare this year.
Paddy procurement remains a major political issue in Chhattisgarh, which is cited as the “rice bowl of Central India”.