Over 41 lakh paddy farmers have benefitted from KMS procurement: Agriculture Ministry

New Delhi [India], December 14 (ANI): In the ongoing Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2020-21, the central government continues to procure kharif crops at Minimum Support Price (MSP) from farmers and about 41.04 lakh farmers have already been benefitted from KMS procurement with MSP value of Rs 70,937.38 crore, Agriculture Ministry said on Monday.
The ministry said in a release that paddy procurement for Kharif 2020-21 is continuing smoothly in--Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Bihar.
It said that the central government has purchased over 375.72 LMT of paddy up to December 13, 2020 against the last year corresponding purchase of 310.71 LMT, showing an increase of 20.92 per cent.
"Out of the total purchase of 375.72 LMT, Punjab alone has contributed 202.77 LMT which is 53.96 per cent of total procurement," it said.
The release said the ministry has accorded the approval for procurement of 48.11 LMT of pulse and oilseeds of KMS 2020 for Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, Gujarat, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh under Price Support Scheme (PSS).
"Sanction for procurement of 1.23 LMT of Copra (the perennial crop) for the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala was also given," it said.
The release said 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 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.
"Up to December 13, 2020, the government through its Nodal Agencies has procured 158387.33 MT of moong, urad, groundnut pods and soyabean having MSP value of Rs 850.89 crores benefitting 88,871 farmers in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana and Rajasthan. Similarly, 5089 MT of copra (the perennial crop) having MSP value of Rs 52.40 crore has been procured benefitting 3,961 farmers in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu up to December 13 as against the last year corresponding purchase of 293.34 MT of copra," it said. (ANI)