A direct procurement centre for ragi was inaugurated under the aegis of the Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare M.R.K. Paneerselvam in the district.
The ragi procurement for distribution to family card holders envisions replacing rice with 2 kg ragi for each family cardholder.
On the occasion, the Minister said the move to replace rice with millets was to enhance nutritional support for the consumers.
Earlier, Collector K. Shanthi had convened a meeting of the steering committee to guide the procurement exercise that is being implemented on pilot basis in select blocks of the district. The objective was to engage with native crops and encourage millet consumption in millet rich districts, simultaneously providing support prices for cultivators and ensuring nutritional security to the consumers, according to the State government.
Earlier, the Minister distributed seeds to farmers. The procurement station at Madhikonpalayam agriculture regulated marketing centre is open to farmers to sell their produce for procurement. The farmers may register their produce online along with sitta and patta details.
The support price against the procured ragi shall be transferred to the bank account of the farmers, according to the administration. Farmers were urged to contact the block agricultural offices for further details and were encouraged to register their millet produce for procurement.
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