Govt will procure 70 LMTs of paddy this Rabi: Uttam

Hyderabad: With a record Rabi cultivation spread across 54.89 lakh acres and an estimated output of 127 lakh metric tonnes (LMTs), as of April 29, about 20 LMTs were purchased from around 2.55 lakh farmers. Over 23 LMTs of paddy had arrived at procurement centres.

The state government has planned to procure nearly 70 LMTs of paddy through an extensive network of 8,381 procurement centres established across all districts. Payments worth Rs 2,289.81 crore have already been credited to farmers’ accounts against a total MSP value of Rs 4,545.72 crore, with the remaining under process. A bonus amount of Rs 444.20 crore is also being readied. The State Government is prepared to spend over Rs 15,000 crore to ensure the smooth and timely procurement of paddy during this Rabi season.

Civil Supplies Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy and Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageshwar Rao, who held a video conference with all District Collectors on Wednesday, termed the paddy procurement programme the most important and prestigious initiative of the government for the next 15 to 20 days.

The video conference, held from the Civil Supplies Department headquarters at Erramanzil Colony, was attended by Principal Secretary and Civil Supplies Commissioner DS Chauhan and other higher officials. The meeting focused on reviewing procurement progress, pre-empting challenges, and ensuring rapid responses to unseasonal weather conditions and field-level logistical issues.

The Minister instructed Collectors to take every precaution to protect harvested paddy from rainfall and heat, ensuring zero spoilage and zero inconvenience to farmers. In addressing logistics, Uttam Kumar Reddy said that in locations where godowns are not accessible, paddy must be shifted directly to mills with sufficient capacity. He directed the Civil Supplies Commissioner to make advance allocations of 10 LMT worth of storage space and intermediate godowns in districts where needed.

He also appreciated the proactive efforts of the Karimnagar Collector in purchasing dryers and urged other districts to adopt similar measures. In addition to procurement, the Minister reviewed the distribution of free fine rice to ration card holders. He said the quality of the rice supplied through the Public Distribution System (PDS) must be ensured and that specific cooking-quality guidelines had been issued.