States can now buy paddy, pulses as Centre speeds up Kharif procurement across nation amid farmers protests

Centre also open to procuring more pulses & oilseeds under price support scheme if market rate of the produce goes below MSP

The Centre on Monday stepped up the procurement of Kharif crops across the country, allowing states to buy paddy, pulses and coarse grains with immediate effect to ensure that farmers get minimum support price for their produce.

The decision came two days after the Centre asked Punjab and Haryana to begin procurement of paddy on Saturday, in a bid to reach out to farmers who have been protesting against the agriculture reforms unveiled by the Modi government.

In the first two days, central agencies had procured 5,637 metric tonnes of paddy worth Rs 10.53 crore from 390 farmers of Punjab and Haryana, an official statement said here.

“The procurement of paddy for the remaining states will commence from Sept 28, 2020,” it said.

Based on the proposals received from states, the Centre has approved procurement of 13.77 lakh metric tonnes (MT) of pulses and oilseeds for the current crop season for the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana and Haryana.

The Centre is also open to procuring more pulses and oilseeds under the price support scheme if the market rate of the produce goes below the MSP.

As of September 24, the government had through its nodal agencies procured 34.20 MT of Moong having MSP value of Rs 25 lakh benefiting 40 farmers in Tamil Nadu.

Similarly, 5,089 MT of copra having MSP value of Rs 52.40 crore has been procured benefiting 3,961 farmers in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu against the sanctioned quantity of 95.75 lakh MT for the Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Earlier, the National Cooperative Development Corporation had sanctioned Rs 19,444 crores to Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Telangana for procurement of Kharif paddy under the minimum support price operations.

The amounts have been transferred to state marketing federations of the three states that account for nearly 75% paddy in the entire country. Chhattisgarh has received Rs 9,000 crores, Telangana (Rs 5,500 crores) and Haryana (Rs 5,444 crores).