All set for crucial meet on paddy procurement in Delhi today

Hyderabad: All eyes are on crucial meeting between the Union and the State governments on paddy procurement in New Delhi on Friday. The State official delegation led by Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy would meet their counterparts and present a factual report on the paddy cultivation in the State. They will also explain the challenges faced by Telangana farmers in the cultivation of paddy in the ensuing Yasangi season.

Officials said that Union Minister for Industry and Public Distribution Piyush Goyal and Agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar raised doubts on the extent of paddy cultivation taken up by farmers in every agricultural season, as the figures finalised by the centre contradicted the statistical data prepared by the State government. The union ministers made it clear that the centre would not make a decision unless the State government submits a ground report on paddy cultivation.

The centre is not ready to procure all the produced rice and paddy. As per the guidelines stipulated by the government, the union ministers informed the State that not more than 70 lakh metric tonnes (MT) of paddy would be procured. It is not possible to buy 120 MTs of paddy as demanded by the State government.