Against the target of 85 LMT of paddy procurement on support price for Kharif crop season 2019-20, the state government till Wednesday had procured 81.53 LMT of paddy. A payment of Rs 14,469 crore has been made directly to the accounts of farmers.
Information regarding the same was provided by officials of food department at a review meeting conducted by Food and Civil Supplies Minister Amarjeet Bhagat on Wednesday evening.
Food Secretary Dr Kamalpreet Singh informed the meeting that as compared to the Kharif year 2018-19, 2.34 lakh more farmers have sold their produce till date. Previous year 15.71 lakh farmers had sold their crop while this year the number increased considerably, he said.
Regarding shortage of gunny bags at certain procurement centers, the official informed that at several places the sale of paddy was increased to a great extent. Like, in Kondagaon the increase in sale as compared to previous year was 18%. Additional new bags were hence arranged for this district later on, he added.