TG govt sets record, pays 8.35L farmers for grain procurement

Hyderabad: The Telangana government has set a new record in the procurement of food grains as the administration has made payments of Rs 10,355.18 crore to more than 8.35 lakh farmers in the State.

According to the officials, the farmers who sold grain at the procurement centres were paid within three days. Officials stated that this year, the government opened procurement centres much earlier than before. Previously, the centres opened in April, but this time, they started buying nearly two weeks earlier, on March 25. About 7,178 procurement centres were opened across the State this time for rabi season procurement, and out of these, purchases were made in 6,345 centres.

Till June 7, as many as 47.07 lakh metric tonnes of food grain have been procured across the State. The civil supplies department estimates that grain procurement has been completed in many areas, but food grains may still arrive at the procurement centres in the next ten days. All districts have been instructed to keep the centres open until the end of this month to accommodate farmers who planted their crops late.

The Civil Supplies Corporation had initially estimated that the procurement of paddy would be around 75.40 lakh metric tonnes this year. But due to the higher price than the support price in the market and private traders competing and buying at a better price, the estimate of grain coming to the centres has decreased. Officials claimed that this time the Civil Supplies Corporation made proper arrangements at the grain buying centres. Adequate precautions were taken to ensure farmers did not suffer from strong winds and untimely rains. The districts of Jagtial, Kamareddy, Karimnagar, Medak, Nalgonda, Nizamabad, Peddapalli, Siddipet, Sircilla, Suryapet, YadadriBhuvanagiri, Sangareddy, Nirmal, Manchyryala, and Janagama were at the forefront in the procurement of grain this time, the officials informed.