The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare on Thursday released data on the procurement of paddy for Kharif 2020-21 session, which paints an entirely different picture than what is portrayed in the light of ongoing protests. According to the government report, paddy procurement is up by 23.67 percent with purchase of over 436.20 lakh metric tonnes of paddy up to December 23, 2020, against 352.70 LMT last year.
In Punjab alone, 202.77 lakh metric tonnes of paddy was procured at MSP, contributing to nearly half of the total procurement. As a result of this, about 54.78 lakh farmers have benefitted with minimum support price (MSP) value of Rs 82,356.16 crore.
PM Modi-led government assured that the paddy procurement for Kharif 2020-21 is continuing smoothly in the procuring States & UTs of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Chandigarh, Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
Procurement at MSP
The ministry has allowed for procurement of 51.66 LMT of pulse and oilseeds for the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, Gujarat, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh under Price Support Scheme (PSS). The Centre also gave its nod to the procurement of 1.23 LMT of Copra (the perennial crop) for the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
"For other states/UTs, approval will also be accorded on receipt of proposals for the procurement of pulses, oilseeds and copra under PSS so that procurement of FAQ grade of these crops can be made at notified MSP for the year 2020-21 directly from the registered farmers, if the market rate goes below MSP during the notified harvesting period in the respective states/UTs by the Central Nodal Agencies through state nominated procuring agencies," the press release read.
In its report, the government said it also procured 2,23,594.64 MT of moong, urad, groundnut pods and soybean having MSP value of Rs 1197.40 crores till December 23 through nodal agencies. This has benefitted 1,21,655 farmers in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana and Rajasthan.
Overall, these stats show how the welfare of farmers is accounted for under the new laws and the government's commitment towards farmers and MSP.
