South Dinajpur: Paddy procurement starts at Rs 1,940 per quintal

BALURGHAT: As per instruction of the state government, South Dinajpur district Food and Supplies department has started procuring paddy directly from the farmers at some pre-ordained prices fixed by the state government through Centralised Procurement Centres (CPCs) covering all eight blocks of the district.

The decision of procuring paddy was taken after a meeting conducted by the administrative officials and the senior officials of the district Food and Supplies department.

District controller of Food and Supplies department Jayanta Kumar Roy said the government had declared a minimum support price of paddy at Rs 1,940 per quintal in the state instead of Rs 1,888 per quintal that was fixed last year.

"We have already started procuring paddy from the farmers on November 1. The procurement will continue till September 30 in 2022. We have set a target to procure 85,000 metric-ton paddy from the farmers. The farmers can get Rs 20 extra per quintal if they come and sell paddy at Centralised Procurement Centres instead of local camps," Roy said.

"We are not distributing coupons to the farmers this year if they are willing to sell paddy at the camps. The camps are being set up as per decision of the registered Self Help Groups (SHGs) after taking approval from the concerned district magistrate. The first camp will be organised at Kumarganj block on December 24," he said.

Roy said the district Food and Supplies department has started procuring paddy through 15 Centralised Procurement Centres in Balurghat, Gangarampur, Tapan, Kushmandi, Hili, Kumarganj, Harirampur and Bangshihari.

"In South Dinajpur, we have more than 50,000 eligible registered farmers who can sell their crops either at the Centralised Procurement Centresor at the camps. The procurement process has been smooth so far," Roy added.