HYDERABAD

The State government has decided to procure 90 lakh tonnes of paddy produced this Rabi season with the production expected to be over 152 lakh tonnes. This was stated by Minister for Irrigation and Civil Supplies N. Uttam Kumar Reddy during a meeting with the officials here on Monday.

Speaking to officials to discuss the action plan for procurement of paddy in the Rabi season, he said the Telangana State Civil Supplies Corporation Limited had set an ambitious target of procuring 90 lakh tonnes, including 60 LT of coarse varieties (common grade) and 30 LT of fine varieties (A grade) at the minimum support price price of ₹2,369 per quintal and ₹2,389 per quintal, respectively.

The State would open 8,251 paddy purchase centres to be operated by IKP, PACS and other agencies equipped with modern tools, adequate storage, transport and weather vigilance measures to facilitate seamless and farmer-friendly operations. Stating that the focus would be on zero distress sales, the Minister assured procurement backed by robust monitoring, godown identification and on-ground support to safeguard farmers’ interests.

The MSP rates would provide a significant boost to farmers’ income and act as a safety net against the market fluctuations, the Minister said and outlined key measures that officials must implement immediately to achieve the ‘record level procurement’ target. Sufficient gunny bags (gunnies) were already positioned across the PPCs.

He stated that the officials were told to arrange adequate vehicles well in advance for seamless movement of paddy from PPCs to rice mills. Every PPC would be equipped with tarpaulins, electronic weighing scales, moisture meters, automatic paddy cleaners, digital dial callipers, husk removers and other essential tools.

With large quantities of paddy expected, he asked the officials to identify sufficient vacant godowns immediately stating that it was critical to prevent distress sales and protect harvested paddy from spoilage. Commissioner of Civil Supplies M. Stephen Ravindra and other officials participated in the meeting.