Sushanta chairs review meeting to purchase paddy from farmers at MSP

Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs Minister Sushanta Chowdhury chaired a review meeting on Wednesday to initiate the process of purchasing paddy from farmers at a minimum subsidized price of Rs 21.83 per kg.

Minister Chowdhury emphasized that, with the best interests of the farmers in mind, the Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs Department in conjunction with the Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department will promptly commence direct procurement of paddy from farmers.

"Farmers interested in selling their paddy at various purchasing centers across the state can get in touch with the nearest agriculture department office or sub-divisional magistrate's office. To assess the preparatory phase, I conducted an important video conference meeting with senior officials from the Department of Food and Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare from all over the state," he stated.

During the meeting, Minister Chowdhury highlighted that the state government procures paddy directly from farmers every year to benefit them.

"Paddy is procured each season to augment the stock of food grains in the country and state and to regulate market prices. To achieve this objective each district and subdivision has been provided with the necessary instructions for paddy procurement this year. I also directed officials during the meeting to set a higher paddy procurement target this season compared to the previous year," Sushanta remarked.

He also instructed officials to ensure that farmers do not encounter any difficulties while selling their paddy.

It should be noted that in the last Rabi season, paddy was directly purchased from farmers at a minimum support price of Rs 20 per kg at 40 paddy purchasing centers throughout the state. This year, the minimum support price has been raised to Rs 21.83 per kg."