Govt procures 521.5 lakh tonnes of paddy at MSP

Paddy procurement has reached 521.48 lakh tonnes till January 6, up 27.13 per cent from the year-ago period.

New Delhi: The Centre has procured 521.48 lakh tonnes of paddy so far during this kharif marketing season from nearly 68 lakh farmers at MSP costing Rs 98,457 crore, amid the ongoing protest by farmers at various Delhi borders seeking repeal of three new farm laws and legal guarantee of MSP.

"In the ongoing kharif marketing season (KMS) 2020-21, the government continues to procure kharif 2020-21 crops at MSP from farmers as per existing MSP schemes," according to an official statement.

Paddy procurement has reached 521.48 lakh tonnes till January 6, up 27.13 per cent from the year-ago period. The kharif marketing season starts from October.

"About 67.89 lakh farmers have already been benefited from the ongoing KMS procurement operations with an MSP value of Rs 98,456.80 crore," the statement said.

Out of the total purchase of 521.48 lakh tonnes, Punjab has contributed 202.77 lakh tonnes.

"Till January 6, a quantity of 80,26,401 cotton bales valuing Rs 23,485.05 crore has been procured benefitting 15,59,429 farmers," it said.

Braving severe cold and sporadic rains, thousands of farmers from Punjab, Haryana and some other parts of the country have been camping at several Delhi border points for over 40 days.

The seventh round of talks between protesting unions and three central ministers ended inconclusively on Monday as farmer groups stuck to their demand for the repeal of three laws. However, the government listed out various benefits of the new Acts for the growth of the country's agriculture sector.

(PTI)