Farmers allowed to fix schedule to sell paddy for the 1st time this year

kolkata: The state Food and Supplies department for the first time this year has allowed the farmers the discretion of fixing their own schedule for selling paddy.

The process of paddy procurement has started from November 1 and this year the target has been set at 55 lakh metric tonne.

"Registered farmers can fix their own schedule for selling paddy at the nearest purchase centre of their respective district. They can choose any purchase centre subject to availability of slots in the next 30 days," a senior official of the Food and Supplies department said.

If the farmer fails to turn up to sell his paddy on the scheduled day, he can fix the schedule again only after 10 days after the date of the previous schedule. They can also change the schedule, if needed, at least 3 days before the date fixed earlier to any next available date.

The option for scheduling a date for selling his paddy can be done through the portal — procurement.wbfood.in. The department has already asked the concerned officials in the district to circulate this new step for hassle-free selling of paddy among the farmers. The detailed process for date scheduling is also being advertised widely.

The MSP (minimum support price) of paddy has been fixed at Rs 2,040 per quintal. The state government is giving an additional incentive of Rs 20 per quintal to the farmers who sell their paddy at CPCs, (centralised procurement centre), DPCs (decentralised procurement centre) and mobile CPCs.

The Food department for the first time this year plans to introduce mobile CPC's which will be reaching the farmers' doorstep in remote areas to facilitate them to sell their paddy. It has been found that farmers hailing from remote areas of the state cannot reach to the CPCs for selling their paddy produce. "The approval of mobile CPCs is awaiting the clearance of the state Finance department,"an official said.

Presently, 414 CPCs are already involved in paddy procurement and 4939 MT of paddy has already been procured within 8 days.