Centre doubles paddy purchase target from Odisha

The farmers will now get Rs 1,940 for every quintal of paddy procured from the earlier price of Rs 1,868 per quintal.
Paddy Crop (Photo | EPS)
Paddy Crop (Photo | EPS)

BHUBANESWAR:  Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday said the further increase in the minimum support price (MSP) of all kharif crops for the marketing season 2021-22 is another step to double farmers’ income in the State and other parts of the country. 

Welcoming the Union Cabinet decision in this regard, Pradhan said that increase in MSP of kharif will support them in recovering input costs, boost income, especially for farmers in paddy cultivating states like Odisha, West Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Telangana. He informed that the Centre has also increased the paddy procurement target of Odisha for the new crop season.

“Taking another substantive step towards doubling farmers’ income by 2022 and fulfilling promises made to ‘annadatas’, the Union Cabinet led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has increased the MSP for kharif crops for the 2021-22 season,” he tweeted.

The Centre increased the MSP of paddy, one of the most important food crops cultivated across the country, by Rs 72 per quintal for 2021-22. The farmers will now get Rs 1,940 for every quintal of paddy procured from the earlier price of Rs 1,868 per quintal.

Pradhan said the Centre had procured over 35 lakh tonne of paddy costing Rs 6,549.2 crore from Odisha in 2020-21. It has doubled the target of procurement to 71.9 lakh tonne from the State involving a cost of Rs 13,948.6 crore in 2021-22 kharif marketing season. 

This shows the commitment of the Narendra Modi government for the farmers of Odisha, he added. He said the highest absolute increase in MSP over the previous year has been recommended for sesame seeds (Rs 452 per quintal) followed by black gram and arhar (Rs 300 per quintal each). 

In the case of groundnut and niger seed, there has been an increase of Rs 275 per quintal and Rs 235 per quintal respectively. The differential remuneration is aimed at encouraging crop diversification, he said.

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