Gadwal: The government is ensuring farmer welfare by operating procurement centers and paying Minimum Support Price (MSP) for paddy, cotton, and maize, said District Collector B.M. Santosh. He directed agricultural officials to ensure that procurement activities proceed smoothly as per guidelines, without causing any inconvenience to farmers.

The Collector conducted an awareness meeting on Saturday with Mandal Agriculture Officers and Agriculture Extension Officers in the conference hall of the Collectorate. The meeting focused on measures to be taken for the smooth operation of paddy, maize, and cotton procurement.

Addressing the officials, the Collector instructed Agriculture Extension Officers to educate farmers on the precautions required under CCI norms, ensuring that cotton brought to procurement centers is not rejected for quality issues. He emphasized maintaining moisture levels between 8% and 12% and preventing discolored or poor-quality cotton from reaching the centers. He noted that farmers are facing difficulties when CCI rejects low-quality cotton.

The Collector informed that all procurement centers have been equipped with the required facilities. With rains receding, special care must be taken over the next two months to avoid inconvenience to farmers and ensure smooth procurement operations.

For maize procurement, centers have already been opened at Manupadu and Kythur, and two more centers will soon be set up for farmers’ convenience. The MSP for maize has been fixed at ₹2,400 per quintal, and officials were instructed to ensure that the moisture content does not exceed 14%.

Paddy procurement is currently progressing smoothly, he added, and warned that any negligence in cotton and grain procurement will not be tolerated.

Those who attended the meeting included District Agriculture Officer Sakriya Naik, Deputy Directors Sangeeta Lakshmi (Agriculture) and Jaggu Naik (Agriculture Project), Horticulture Officer Akbar Basha, District Civil Supplies Officer Swami Kumar, Markfed DM Chandramouli, CCI representative Rahul, and Mandal Agriculture Officers and Agriculture Extension Officers from all mandals.