In a first, the Centre has decided to cross check land records before the procurement of paddy from next month in a bid to ensure the MSP reaches farmers and not traders. Most procuring states, barring Assam and Uttarakhand as well as Jammu and Kashmir, are ready and have also integrated digital land records with the Centre's nodal procurement agency Food Corporation of India (FCI) for this purpose.
Asserting that this new mechanism is in the interest of farmers, Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey said the crop cultivated by farmers whether in their own land or in rented land will be procured by the government. "It is not necessary for farmers to own the land or not. If farmers have cultivated any land, that will be procured," he said.
The whole idea is to cross check how much crop has been cultivated in what area and accordingly procure it, he said, adding this is where digital land records integrated centrally with FCI will help during the procurement process. The main objective behind this mechanism is that the government procures the crop from genuine farmers and not from traders.
According to the Secretary, "Most states including Punjab are in complete readiness." Many states like Uttar Pradesh and Odisha had already integrated their land records, while some states had not done and they are doing this year, he added.
The Centre procured 3,449 lakh tonne of paddy at a MSP value of Rs 6,02,156 crore between 2016-17 and 2020-21, while 1,627 lakh tonne of wheat at MSP value of Rs 2,85,071 crore in the same period. This is much higher than 2,495 lakh tonne of paddy at a MSP value of Rs 2,88,871 crore between 2009-10 and 2013-14, while 1,395 lakh tonne of wheat at MSP value of Rs 1,68,223 crore in the same period.