The Centre said procurement of kharif paddy has been going on smoothly and over 8 lakh tonnes has been purchased at minimum support price (MSP) by paying Rs 1,511.13 crore to farmers in last nine days (From September 26 till October 04). Pulses and cotton are also being procured at MSP as per the existing schemes. Procurement of paddy, the main kharif crop, began from September 26 in Punjab and Haryana, while it started on September 28 in other states.
As on October 4, cumulative procurement of paddy in 2020-21 kharif marketing season is 8,00,389 tonnes. Paddy has been procured from 62,518 farmers at MSP value of Rs 1,511.13 crore. For the current year, the centre has fixed MSP of paddy (common grade) at Rs 1,868 per quintal, while that of A grade variety has been fixed at Rs 1,888 per quintal.
Besides, the government, through nodal agencies, is buying pulses and oilseeds at MSP under the Price Support Scheme (PSS), which gets operationalised when market rates fall below the support price. Till October 4, about 103.40 tonnes of moong at MSP value of Rs 74 lakh has been procured from 85 farmers in Haryana and Tamil Nadu. Similarly, 5,089 tonnes of copra at MSP value of Rs 52.40 crore has been procured from 3,961 farmers in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.