TS stands 2nd in paddy procurement in country

Hyderabad: The State Civil Supplies Department achieved a record by making the highest procurement in State history.

In Kharif and Rabi seasons of 2018-19, it purchased 77.41 Lakh Metric Tonnes (LMTs) of paddy from 14.73 lakh farmers at Minimum Support Price (Grade-A - Quintal Rs 1,510, Common - Quintal Rs 1,470) and paid Rs 13,673 crore through their accounts directly.

The Telangana State is now at the second place after Punjab in the country.

In this Kharif season, the Civil Supplies Department purchased 40.41 LMT of paddy from over 8 lakh farmers through 3,297 paddy purchase centres (PPCs) and in Rabi, it purchased 37 LMT of paddy from 6.6 lakh farmers at 3,509 PPCs.

In Kharif and Rabi season, the State procured 77.41 LMT paddy from 14.7 lakh farmers at 6,816 PPCs. In the previous 2017-18 season, the department bought 53.98 LMT paddy. This year, the procurement increased by an additional 23.43 LMTs.

Telangana reaching second place in the country is a very big achievement and this whole credit goes to Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, Minister for Civil Supplies Singireddy Niranjan Reddy said.

With the implementation of various schemes for farmers including Rythu Bandhu, Rythu Bheema, 24 Hours electricity, new irrigation projects taken up by Chief Minister, this year we could procure paddy at a record level, he added.

Chairman Mareddy Srinivas Reddy stated that payments to farmers were done without any delay due to funds release assurance given by the Chief Minister.