BHUBANESWAR: Amid farmers’ complaints over non-procurement of paddy by the State-appointed agencies, Odisha Government on Thursday claimed to have purchased a record quantity of paddy in the current kharif marketing season (KMS).
The Government has procured 51.93 lakh tonne of paddy from 9.33 lakh farmers under the price support system till date against a kharif target of 50 lakh tonne. Around 50.44 lakh tonne of paddy were procured last year.
The record procurement of paddy is possible despite initial resistance from western Odisha farmers to the new online token system introduced by the Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare department. “As farmers of the coastal districts are still having surplus paddy for sale and the last date of kharif procurement is March 31, we are expecting that the procurement will cross 53 lakh tonne,” sources in the department said.