Few months ago Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao had openly stated that it was not possible for the State to procure paddy as the Centre had imposed new conditions for paddy procurement. This had created tension among farmers and at several places the farmers were worrying about what they could cultivate and what marketing system was available for their produce if chose to sow alternative crops. So much so that this has become a campaign issue in Huzurabad byelection as well with the ruling party at the State and Centre trading charges and holding each other responsible for the the situation.
Now with the Chief Minister promising to procure paddy the officials have started arrangements for paddy procurement.
In Sangareddy district alone it was decided to establish as many as 143 paddy procurement centres and the number may go up depending on the demand. While 80 centres will be established by Indira Kranthi Patham (IKP), District Cooperative Marketing Society (DCMS) will be setting up 12 centres followed by Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies (PACS) 51 centres, according to Additional Collector Veera Reddy. Minimum support price (MSP) for Grade A variety is ₹ 1,960 per quintal and for normal paddy it is ₹ 1,940 per quintal.
Officials are making all arrangements and have already procured the required quantity of gunny bags. They are expecting about 2 lakh metric tonnes of paddy in the present season, higher than this summer, as there was good rainfall in the district providing the much needed irrigation for the crop.
In Medak district, the officials have decided to establish 311 procurement centres and officials are estimating a yield of about 5 lakh metric tonnes of paddy. Officials were directed to get ready with required material like weighing machines, gunny bags, tarpaulin sheets, moisture measuring machines and paddy cleaners. Further, 147 rice mills were identified to transport the procured paddy, according to Collector S. Harish.
