Chhattisgarh: With today being the last day for procurement of paddy under the Paddy Procurement Scheme, 10,000 quintals of the Kharif crop will be procured across 75 committees in Bilaspur. Nearly 270 tokens have been issued so far to the farmers. According to officials of the District Co-operative Central Bank, as of 2nd February, roughly 7,968 farmers were lined up to sell the paddy on support price.
As of Friday, 5th February govt procured 97.71 lakh tonnes of paddy from 21.74 lakh farmers at cooperative societies across the state and released Rs 19,000.46 crores to them. The government has till date deposited 16.38 lakh tonnes of paddy under the central pool. Out of the total, 9.04 lakh tonnes have been deposited to the Food Corporation of India and 7.33 lakh tonnes to the Nagrik Aapurti Nigam.
Paddy procurement from farmers through cooperative societies is underway since December 1 and stocks have been kept in the open at several procurement centres. The procurement of paddy was extended from January 31st to 7th February, after the state received unseasonal rainfall that halted the procurement process.