Nizamabad NEWS: Nizamabad lags behind paddy procurement target

Nizamabad: Paddy procurement in the district for Yaasangi season has been less than the target. The district administration had set a target of procuring six lakh metric tonnes of paddy during the Yaasangi season, but it was able to procure only 4.28 lakh metric tonnes. Agriculture department officials are blaming the weather for the lack of paddy procurement. They claim that a large part of the paddy crop was destroyed due to unseasonal rains, leading to a low yield. Besides, paddy brought to the mandi got wet due to rain, causing huge losses to farmers. Following this, paddy procurement fell sharply, officials said. A total of 462 procurement centres were set up in the district, of which 417 centres functioned under cooperative societies, 39 under IKP (Indira Kranti Patham) and six centres under Mission for Elimination of Poverty in Municipal Areas (MEPMA). The government had fixed the minimum support price (MSP) for paddy ‘A’ grade at Rs 250 per quintal. Rs 2203 per quintal and Rs 2183 per quintal for normal variety.

According to agriculture department officials, the normal area under paddy cultivation in the district during Yasangi season was 3.21 lakh acres, but this time farmers cultivated paddy in 3.17 lakh acres, which is 4,000 acres less than normal. However, it is 17,000 acres more than the previous season, according to officials. The district administration purchased 4.28 lakh metric tonnes of paddy from 73,284 farmers in the district. Officials informed that the value of paddy purchased from Yasangi farmers is around Rs 938 crore and the amount will be credited to the farmers’ accounts soon. “Once the details are entered in the computer system, the money will be credited to the farmers’ accounts,” officials said.