Kolkata: To boost paddy procurement and offer more benefits to small farmers, the Food and Supplies department will allow selling of an additional 30 quintals irrespective of the farmers’ land quantum. The farmers need to be registered under the Krishak Bandhu scheme of the state Agriculture department to avail such benefits.
“We were allowing farmers registered with Krishak Bandhu portal to sell 30 kg of paddy once in a year. Now, we are allowing them to sell another 30 kg (total of 60 kg) of paddy irrespective of their land quantum. This will provide them the opportunity to sell both during Kharif as well as in Rabi season,” said a Food and Supplies department official.
The farmers who do not have a large quantum of land are unable to grow a large amount during Kharif. Hence, the state has allowed them to sell their produce for the Rabi season too. A farmer having a large quantum of land can sell a maximum of 90 metric tonnes of paddy. The Minimum Support Price (MSP) for paddy this year is Rs 2183 per quintal which is higher than last year’s Rs 2040 per quintal to safeguard the interest of small and marginal farmers. The department is also providing an incentive of Rs 20 per quintal over and above the MSP to the farmers who will be selling his paddy.
The department’s procurement target has been enhanced to 70 lakh metric tonne up from 55 lakh MT last year. The daily procurement that went down in March has gained momentum with average daily procurement being around 17000 MT. About 44 lakh MT has been procured till date and the department is optimistic of fulfilling its target.
The paddy procurement started from November 1, 2023. The department has provided e-pos machines to all its purchase centres for paddy procurement to ensure only genuine farmers sell their paddy at the centres. This year arrangements have been made for 2000 purchase centres across the state and another 100 mobile CPCs (centralized procurement centres).