ROURKELA: Expecting good paddy yield, the Sundargarh administration has decided to begin procurement from November 25. Tokens will be provided to registered farmers in the next 48 hours.
Collector Nikhil Pavan Kalyan said in the first phase, 80,400 tonne of rice which is equivalent to 1.18 lakh tonne paddy will be procured and fresh target would be placed subsequently.
Civil Supplies Officer, Bhikari Charan Mangaraj said 37,952 farmers have registered for procurement and the process was done digitally through P-PAS (Paddy Procurement Automation System). He said now farmers do not have to visit the Large And Multi-Purpose Cooperative Societies (LAMPS) to collect tokens for paddy sale.
The tokens will be issued online and to make the procurement process hassle-free, they will be sent SMS a fortnight in advance about when their paddy would be procured. In case, the farmer’s registered mobile number is not in service, they can collect token from LAMPS. Payments against procurement would be made within 24 to 48 hours.
Deputy Registrar of Cooperative Societies Jerome Kerketta said 44 LAMPS, two Regional Cooperative Marketing Societies and one multi-purpose cooperative society have been entrusted to procure paddy.
Procurement would be done through 124 PPCs of which 121 have internet connectivity, while in the remaining three in Bonai block Government will make necessary arrangements. For common grade paddy, the minimum support price is Rs 1,815 per quintal, while the A-grade paddy would fetch Rs 1,835 per quintal.
Last year, the district had procured about 1.60 lakh tonne paddy.
Deputy Director of Agriculture, Sundargarh, RN Satpathy said crop cutting has commenced but in areas where cultivation started late, the process would continue till December end. He said crop cutting reports are yet to be received, but it has been observed that yield from the upland is 25 to 30 quintal per hectare.
Till recently, the administration was apprehensive of low yield due to erratic monsoon in June and July.