FCI procures over 65 lakh tonnes of paddy in Telangana during ongoing kharif season; all India procurement 532 lakh tonnes, says Union Ministry data

Telangana’s farmers represent the third highest block among all States. Only in Chhattisgarh and Punjab have more famers benefited from the Centre’s paddy procurement at MSP this kharif season so far.

At Medapalli in Khammam district of Telangana, paddy being dried at a procurement centre.

A total of 9,67,134 farmers from Telangana have benefited from the Centre’s paddy procurement at minimum support price (MSP) during the ongoing 2021-22 kharif marketing season (KMS), which spans from spans October 2021 to September 2022. The figures, released on January 10 by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, are as of January 9.

Telangana’s farmers represent the third highest block among all States. Only in Chhattisgarh and Punjab have more famers benefited from the Centre’s paddy procurement at MSP this kharif season so far.

In terms of quantity procured, too, Telangana stands third among States, with the Food Corporation of India (FCI) having procured 65.55 lakh tonnes of paddy from the State in the ongoing kharif season. The top two are Punjab, with around 1.87 crore tonnes, and Chhattisgarh, with 67.66 lakh tonnes. Telangana’s farmers benefited to the tune of Rs.12,847.29 crore, while in Punjab and Chhattisgarh the FCI paid Rs.36,623.64 crore and Rs.13,261.33 crore respectively for the paddy procured. Telangana has been having a running battle with the Centre over the latter’s procurement policy relating to the State.

In a statement on January 10, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, said over 532 lakh tonnes of paddy had been procured during the 2021-22 kharif season up to January 9 from Chandigarh, Gujarat, Assam, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Telangana, Rajasthan, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, NEF (Tripura), Bihar, Odisha, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Until now about 64.07 lakh farmers had benefited with MSP to the value of Rs.1,04,441.45 crore, the statement said.

State-wise paddy procurement figures showed that in Telangana over 21.64 lakh farmers benefited from the 1.41 crore tonnes paddy procured at a total value of Rs.26,637.39 crore. During the same period, in Punjab the FCI procured more than 2 crore tonnes, at MSP from over 10.5 lakh farmers for a total value of Rs.38,293.23 crore. In Chhattisgarh, the FCI procured 71,24,639 tonnes valued at Rs.13,451.32 crore from 20,53,490 farmers.