Madhya Pradesh has so far procured 727,115 tn of key kharif crops—-jowar, bajra, and paddy--harvested in 2020-21 (Jul-Jun) under the price support scheme, an official with the state department said today.
"The highest procurement was of paddy at a minimum support price. Paddy was purchased from 102,798 farmers in the state while bajra was bought from 33,274 growers and jowar from 5,009 farmers," the official said. State-run agencies procured 522,791 tn paddy, 180,104 tn bajra, and 24,220 tn jowar from farmers in 2020-21 (Oct-Sep) kharif marketing season, he said.
The procurement is expected to gather momentum in the coming days as the harvest is completed and farmers want to sell the crops to arrange funds for agri-inputs for rabi sowing, the official said. Madhya Pradesh aims to procure 4 mln tn of paddy in the 2020-21 (Oct-Sep) marketing year at the minimum support price, up around 54% from last year.
The Centre has raised the minimum support price of common variety paddy for 2020-21 (Jul-Jun) to 1,868 rupees per 100 kg from 1,815 rupees the previous year. It also increased the minimum support price of Grade A variety paddy to 1,888 rupees from 1,835 rupees the previous year.
Madhya Pradesh has increased its paddy procurement target for the 2020-21 marketing season amid hopes of a larger crop. The state is among the leading growers of rice in the country and among the key growers of coarse cereals. The Centre has fixed the minimum support price for the hybrid variety of jowar at 2,620 rupees per 100 kg, as against 2,550 rupees the previous year, and for the maldandi variety at 2,640 rupees per 100 kg, compared with 2,570 rupees in 2019-20.
The minimum support price for bajra harvested in 2020-21 is 2,150 rupees per 100 kg, against 2,000 rupees the previous year. The state had launched the kharif crop purchase drive late in October, the official added.
