The government's paddy procurement has crossed the 700 lakh tonne mark in the ongoing 2022-23 kharif marketing season so far, according to the Food Ministry. The government aims to procure 765.43 lakh tonnes of paddy in the 2022-23 kharif marketing season (October-September). The actual procurement stood at a record 749 lakh tonnes in the previous kharif marketing season.
The paddy procurement is undertaken by both state-owned Food Corporation of India (FCI) and private agencies.The paddy is procured at the minimum support price (MSP) directly from the farmers and is utilised for meeting the demand under several welfare schemes.
According to the ministry, "Paddy procurement... is progressing smoothly with purchase of over 702 lakh tonne up to February 20." Over 96 lakh farmers have already benefitted from the procurement operations as MSP outflow of Rs 1,45,845 crore has been transferred directly into farmers’ bank accounts, it said.
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So far, 218 lakh tonnes of rice against the procured paddy is in the central pool. "Adequate rice stock is currently available in the central pool for meeting the requirements of the country," the ministry added. The estimated paddy procurement from the rabi crop of this year will be finalised in the forthcoming Food Secretaries’ meeting to be held on March 1.
With the inclusion of the rabi paddy crop, it is expected that around 900 lakh tonne paddy may be procured during the entire 2022-23 kharif marketing season, it added. Paddy is grown in both kharif (summer) and rabi (winter) seasons. But 80 per cent of the country's total paddy production comes from the kharif season.
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