BERHAMPUR: Ganjam district administration has decided to start paddy procurement for the ongoing kharif season from December 29. This year, the process has been delayed by a month as farmers are not ready with the crop.
This was announced by Collector Vijay Amruta Kulange at a district level meeting held at Chhatrapur on Friday which was also attended by local MLAs and Zilla Parishad members. In view of the hiccups in paddy procurement process in the previous years, the district administration has chalked out plans to prevent distress sale by farmers this time.
With 1,24,081 farmers registering for the process this year, 386 PACS, 105 women SHGs and one pani panchayat have been entrusted with the task of procurement. Last year, 96,402 farmers registrations were done and paddy was collected through 375 millers, 377 PACS and 64 women SHGs. A target of 3,60,447 tonne of paddy procurement has been set for this year. Last year, only 45,04,186 quintal of paddy was lifted as opposed to the allotted target of 47,43,283.58 quintal.
Besides, the price of paddy has also been increased for the benefit of the farmers. The cost of one quintal paddy has been set at Rs 1,940 and that of A-grade quality at Rs 1,960 as opposed to last year’s price of `1,868 and `1,888, respectively for the same variants.
Directing officials to keep a strict vigil to ensure Covid protocols are followed and to make the process smooth, Kulange said an IVR system is in place to make the procurement transparent. “A toll free number 1967 has also been provided to farmers to get information about their tokens, place of sale and other relevant details,” he added.