Raipur: Setting aside all the speculations and rumours about the paddy procurement and rate, Vishnu Deo Sai led government finally arrived at a decision to again procure paddy in the Chhattisgarh state at the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 3100 per quintal from November 15,2025.
While interacting with the media at Mantralay Bhawan, Nava Raipur on Friday the Deputy Chief Minister Arun Sao announced that paddy procurement for the Kharif marketing year 2025-26 will begin on November 15, 2025, and conclude on January 31, 2026. He further said that Sai cabinet unanimously decided that this year also Chhattisgarh government will procure paddy from the registered farmers at the rate of Rs 3100. The capping limit of paddy procurement has been fixed as 21 quintals per acre, he said.
The state has put in place a robust administrative framework to prevent diversion and recycling of paddy or other problems. He said farmers can book their own token, using an online token system via the Token Tuhar Hath mobile app. This will help farmers avoid long queues at societies and for this it is mandatory for the farmers to register their names e-KYC on the AgriStack portal of the Ministry of Agriculture. Registration will remain open until October 31, 2025. A digital crop survey covering 23 lakh hectares has been conducted, allowing online assessment of paddy areas. Data from this digital survey and manual Girdawari is shared in Gram Sabhas across 20,000 villages since October 2.
For better management, 2739 procurement centres will operate with committees incentivized at Rs 5 per quintal if zero drought is maintained during the procurement year. Adequate arrangements for new and old jute bags have been made. The Food Department of India has set a target of 73 lakh metric tonnes of rice for the Central Pool for this Kharif year, he said.
To enhance monitoring and transparency, an Integrated Command and Control Centre has been established at the Markfed office, along with district-level control rooms. Administrative officers will oversee procurement centres, and special district-level checking teams have been formed to prevent paddy inflow from border states. Physical verification will be done for lifting and transport to ensure economical transport arrangements, he added.
However, on the government announcements, Congress registered strong objections. Congress state president Deepak Baij demanded the State government should start paddy procurement from November 1 in place of November 15.
“We demand that paddy procurement should begin on November 1. Paddy purchases should be made at the rate of 21 quintals per acre. An announcement should also be made to pay the price Rs 3286 per quintal,” he said.
