HYDERABAD: The state government decided to set up separate procurement centres for procuring superfine and coarse varieties of paddy for ongoing kharif 2024-25 season. The procurement centres will be open from the first week of October till January 2025.
On Monday, Civil Supplies Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy held a meeting with the officials on procurement of paddy.
The minister revealed that the government was planning to set up a total of 7,139 procurement centres across the state. He said: “4,496 purchase centres will be established through primary agricultural cooperatives (PACs), 2102 through IKP centres and 541 through other means.”
Uttam said that the government expects the paddy yield to be around 91. 38 lakh metric tonnes (MT). He said that as per information received, farmers have cultivated superfine variety of paddy in 36.8 lakh acres. He recalled that the government has decided to provide a bonus of `500 per quintal on superfine variety of paddy to encourage farmers.
The minister made it clear that paddy will not be given to millers who have been involved in irregularities in the past. He instructed the officials to ensure that there is no manipulation of any sort in the matter of paddy. He said that the procurement, which starts in the first week of October, will continue till the end of January.