830 LT Paddy Procured Benefiting 1.22 Crore Farmers This Kharif

The government has procured over 830 lakh tonne (LT) paddy from farmers at Minimum Support Price (MSP) benefitting about 1.22 crore during the ongoing paddy procurement operations of Kharif marketing season 2022-23.

Payments worth Rs 1,71,000 crore have so far been transferred directly into their accounts, an official release from Union Food Ministry said, adding that paddy procurement during the season has progressed smoothly and the government has ensured that all arrangements are in place for hassle-free procurement operations.

Food Corporation of India, the nodal Central agency, along with other State agencies undertakes procurement of paddy under the price support scheme. Those procured paddy is then milled to make rice and distributed to the public under various food security schemes.

Meanwhile, wheat procurement during the ongoing Rabi marketing season (RMS) 2023-24 has also progressed. The procurement of wheat so far is 262 LT, which is well above last year's total procurement of 188 LT, according to the release.

About 21.29 lakh farmers have already benefited from the ongoing wheat procurement operations with MSP payments of about Rs 55,680 crore. Major contribution in the procurement has come from three procuring States -- Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana with procurement of 121.27 LT, 70.98 LT and 63.17 LT, respectively.

Farmers are not legally bound to sell their produce to government agencies and they are free to sell their produce anywhere if they get a price higher than the MSP for their produce. The price support system is put in place to ensure that the farmers do not resort to distress sale under any condition. Government declares the MSP before the harvest during each Rabi or Kharif crop season.

"With the current procurement of wheat and rice, adequate food grains stock in government granaries is maintained. The combined stock position of wheat and rice has reached 570 LT which puts the country in a comfortable position to meet its requirements of food grains," the release said.

India has three cropping seasons - summer, Kharif and Rabi. The crops sown during June-July and harvested in October-November are known as Kharif crop while the crops that are sown during October-November and harvested in January-March depending on maturity is called as Rabi crop. Similarly, the crops produced after Rabi but ahead of Kharif are the summer crops.

Meanwhile, third advance estimates of production of major crops for the agricultural year 2022-23 released by the Agriculture ministry pegged total foodgrain production in the country at a record 330.5 million tonne, which is higher by about 15 million tonne as compared to the previous year 2021-22, the release added.