Piyush Goyal reveals 260 lakh tonne paddy purchased so far with Centre's MSP guarantee

The central government's paddy procurement has increased significantly after it bought 260 lakh tonne of paddy so far in the ongoing Kharif marketing season, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday. Goyal further informed about the procurement of more than 433 lakh tonnes of wheat in the Rabi marketing season with the Centre's minimum support price (MSP) which has benefitted lakhs of farmers across the country. 

According to the Union Minister, paddy worth more than Rs 50,000 crore has been purchased from the farmers taking the benefits to more than 14 lakh farmers in the country. Along with that, the procurement of wheat has benefited more than 49 lakh farmers in the country with the purchase of wheat worth more than Rs 85,000 crore. Meanwhile, the Kharif marketing season 2021-22 runs from October to September under the Union Food Ministry and the Food Corporation of India (FCI).

Taking to Koo, the Union Minister shared a video and wrote, "Procurement by the government at MSP is continuing across the country. So far 260 lakh tonnes of paddy have been procured in the Kharif marketing season, and more than 433 lakh tonnes of wheat have been procured in the Rabi marketing season, which has benefited lakhs of farmers of the country."

Centre begins paddy and wheat procurement across the country

FCI is the government's nodal agency for the procurement and distribution of foodgrains and further provides necessary data regarding the Centre's procurement so far. While procurement has already begun in several states across the country, paddy has been procured from states like Chandigarh, Haryana, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Telangana, Rajasthan, and Tamil Nadu, among others. 

Meanwhile, the farmers across the country continue their protests concerning MSP even after the Centre announced repealing the three farm laws. MSP which is one of the key factors in the agitation over the Centre's agrarian laws, its rules pave the way for farmers to sell their produce outside mandis (under the agricultural produce market committee), further making no mention of buyers to pay a minimum price for farm produce.

While the union government has maintained that the new laws would lead to price maximisation for their farm produce, the protesting farmers see the absence of an MSP requirement as a direct threat to their income. 

Image: ANI/PTI