The Telangana government has announced that it would purchase the paddy and cotton that are cultivated in this rainy season in the state. An official announcement was made by Chief Minister Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday in a high level review meeting that was held at Pragathi Bhavan in Hyderabad.
According to the official statement released by the Chief Minsters’ Office (CMO), the CM has instructed the officials concerned to purchase the entire paddy in the state by setting up 6,000 purchasing centres and ensuring that every grain of paddy is purchased and farmers are not put under any problem. The government’s ‘aim’ is to stand with farmers at every stage, from extending financial assistance for crop investment to purchasing the produce, the statement added.
As per the official information, in Telangana, crops are cultivated in a total of 134.87 lakh acres. Of this, paddy was cultivated in 52.77 lakh acres, cotton in 60.36 lakh acres and red gram in 10.78 lakh acres.
KCR said that paddy would be procured completely through IKP (Indira Kranthi Patham) centres, cooperative societies, marketing department. The CM also urged farmers not to go in for any distress sale. It was also added that if the paddy is within 17% moisture, the government would give Rs 1,888 per quintal for A grade variety, Rs 1,868 per quintal for B grade variety as the Minimum Support Price (MSP).
The guidelines regarding the purchase of paddy would be released in a day or two and the agriculture, marketing and civil supplies department would work in coordination on the matter, the statement said.
The CM said efforts are on to procure cotton through Cotton Corporation of India (CCI). The CM also instructed the officials to clear any doubts the farmers may have through the call centres.