Government's paddy procurement up 1.31% at 231 lakh tonnes till November 10

New Delhi: The government's paddy procurement has increased marginally by 1.31 per cent to 231 lakh tonnes so far in the 2022-23 kharif marketing year from the year-ago period, according to the food ministry.

Normally, paddy procurement begins immediately after the withdrawal of the Southwest monsoon from October onwards. However in southern states, especially in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, it begins from September.

The government aims to procure 771.25 lakh tonnes of paddy in the 2022-23 kharif marketing season (October-September). The actual procurement stood at record 759.32 lakh tonnes in the previous kharif marketing season.

According to the ministry, paddy procurement is progressing smoothly in 13 procuring states/UTs viz. Punjab, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, J&K, Kerala, Telangana, Haryana and Tamil Nadu.

The paddy purchase was over 231 lakh tonnes till November 11 this year as against 228 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period, it said.

Over 13.50 lakh farmers have already benefited from the ongoing procurement operations with minimum support price value of Rs 47,644 crore, it added.

The rainfall condition this year has been fairly good in the country and the production of paddy is expected to remain normal.

With the inclusion of rabi (winter) paddy, it is expected that around 900 lakh tonnes paddy is going to be procured during the entire 2022-23 marketing year.