Telangana: Amid outcry, govt to procure 75L tonne paddy by June 15

While the opposition parties, particularly BRS, have stepped up the heat on delay in the procurement of paddy, the Congress govt has set a target of procuring approximately 75 lakh tonnes of paddy by June 15.

Senior officials said that there was no prohibition on buying wet paddy, but the delay was caused by the need to dry the paddy which got wet in recent rains. While the civil supplies department began procurement in the final week of March, the process is currently taking place in roughly 5,500 centres as against 7,149 paddy centres. According to estimates from agriculture department, a total of one crore tonnes of paddy will be available this season. While 75 lakh tonnes will be procured by the govt, the rest will be sold to private players in neighbouring states and millers.

A few months ago, the govt put 35,000 million tonnes of paddy stocks up for auction. This paddy was leftover stock from the 2022 rabi season, an official said.

But with more rains lashing several parts of the state, farmers are worried. Officials identified damage caused by rains in delta areas with the help of drones. In some districts like Kamareddy and Warangal, farmers demanded immediate disposal of paddy without delay. “We want to make sure that paddy maintains the required moisture content and dry up the paddy. Otherwise, farmers will have to resort to distress sale in the open market. We are ready to help farmers,” govt sources said.

Officials said 18.85 crore jute bags were needed to purchase paddy during rabi season. There are 14 crore gunny bags lying with govt. Govt-issued bags are enough to buy 56 lakh tonnes of rice, an official said. The govt is working to get more jute bags as quickly as possible, he said.

This article has been republished from The Times of India.