BHUBANESWAR: Despite temporary disruption in paddy procurement during the panchayat elections, the State government has bought over 52 lakh tonne of paddy till the end of February.
However, reports from coastal districts state that a large number of farmers who received online tokens for the month of January for sale of paddy under minimum support price in the decentralised procurement system are still waiting for their turn.
“There was temporary dislocation in the lifting of paddy as most of the field-level government staff were engaged in the electioneering process. Instructions have been issued to the districts to ensure that no registered farmers are deprived of selling their paddy stocks under MSP,” said an officer of the department.
With only 25 days left for the current kharif marketing season to end, farmers who have got tokens but not been able to sell their paddy in the appointed dates are panicked as the State government closed the procurement window much before March 31, the last date for paddy procurement.
The State government has set a tentative target to procure 77 lakh tonne paddy in the 2021-22 kharif marketing season (KMS) which will be around 52 lakh tonne rice.
While the kharif target for procurement of paddy is 63 lakh tonne, it has planned to buy 14 lakh tonne during rabi season.
There is time to lift another 11 lakh tonne paddy provided the rice millers lifted the stocks from the paddy purchase centers in time. The rice millers are not lifting their allotted quota under the plea that they have no adequate storage space and vehicles for transportation.
The State government is reported to have procured 52 lakh tonne from over 11.38 lakh farmers and made a payment of `10,192 crore under the direct benefit transfer scheme.
The State had procured 77.32 lakh tonne of paddy (kharif and rabi seasons) in the 2020-21 KMS. It was around 52.35 lakh tonne in terms of rice.