SAMBALPUR: With farmers expecting a bumper production during the current rabi season, the paddy procurement began in the district on Monday.District Food and Civil Supplies Officer Pitambar Acharya said the paddy procurement started at around 6 am and continued till 10 am. A target has been set to procure 63,500 tonnes of paddy in the first phase of the procurement. On the first day, 70,702 bags have been procured. About 10,000 farmers have registered themselves to take part in the procurement process.
Acharya said the Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare (FS&CW) Department has decided to procure 26 quintals of paddy per acre under Hirakud Command Area. Apart from 10 market yards including Baraipali, Gosala, Chaunrpur and Sason in Dhankauda block, Themra, Parmanpur and Sahaspur in Maneswar, Khaliapali market yard in Jujumura and Fasimal and Kuchinda in Kuchinda block of the district, 20 purchasing centres have been opened in Dhankauda, Maneswar, Jujumura and Jamankira blocks for hassle-free procurement. At least 21 Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS), three Large Sized Agricultural Multi-purpose Cooperative Societies (LAMPS) including Kuluchinda and Fasimal and procuring agency Markfed are participating in the process.
As per reports, 1,17,842.62 tonnes of paddy were procured in the last rabi season in the district when 10,681 farmers had participated.Vice-president of Sambalpur Zilla Krushak Surakshya Sangathan Umesh Mishra said they are expecting bumper paddy harvest during this rabi season. But farmers are worried about unseasonal rain and if everything goes right, they can achieve bumper crop, he added.