Govt buys over 197 tonnes of paddy from farmers till Oct 30

New Delhi, Oct 31 : Government agencies have procured over 197 lakh tonnes of paddy so far across the country which is over 23 per cent higher than corresponding last year’s figure.
Paddy procurement for Kharif 2020-21 is in progress in the states and UTs of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Chandigarh, Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala and Gujarat.
The agencies engaged in procurement process in these states have purchased over 197.19 lakh tonnes of paddy till October 30, in the current Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) against the last year corresponding purchase of 159.76 lakh tonnes which shows an increase of 23.43 per cent over last year, said Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution in a statement on Saturday.
Out of the total purchase of 197.19 lakh tonnes, Punjab alone has contributed 136.47 lakh tonnes which is 69.21 per cent of total procurement said the statement.
About 16.62 lakh farmers have already been benefitted from the ongoing KMS procurement Operations with MSP value of Rs 37,230.35 crore, said the Ministry.
The government through its nodal agencies has also procured 7,966.63 tonnes of Moong, Urad, Groundnut Pods and Soyabean having MSP value of Rs 45.51 crores benefitting 4,811 farmers in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Haryana.