Advising farmers not to sell their paddy directly to the millers, the State Government on Saturday decided to open 3,000 mandis (procurement centres) for procurement of kharif paddy directly from peasants. The procurement would begin from November 15.
Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Sanjay Dasburma along with his Department Secretary Madhusudan Padhi and other senior officials on Sunday held a meeting here with farmers’ representatives and millers coming from all districts to streamline the paddy procurement process.
Dasburma told reporters the paddy procurement automation system (P-PASS) which had been implemented in 60 blocks last year would be extended to 100 more blocks this year.
With regard to payment to the farmers, he said the farmers who would sell their paddy would be credited online to their accounts through P-PAS from this year directly.
Maintaining that his department has set a procurement target of 23 lakh metric tonnes of Kharif paddy and seven lakh metric tonnes of Rabi paddy this year, the Minister said a decision has been taken to procure more paddy if necessity arises.
He added that the State Government would request the Centre to increase the minimum support price (MSP) of paddy.