Telangana sets new record in paddy procurement in Kharif-Rabi seasons
Hyderabad: The Telangana state government said it had set a new record by directly purchasing the highest-ever 1.4 crore metric tonnes (MT) of paddy from farmers in the recent kharif and rabi seasons. The rabi procurement season for the year has just concluded.
The food grain purchases by the state have increased by 576 per cent in the seven years since the formation of Telangana state in June 2014, the government said.
TS Civil Supplies Corporation (TSCSC) chairman Mareddy Srinivas Reddy released the details of kharif and rabi procurement for the season. At a media briefing, Reddy said the largescale irrigation facilities created by the government like the Kaleshwaram project, the TRS government’s schemes like Rythu Bandhu, Rythu Bhima, the 24x7 free power to agriculture have led to a phenomenal increase in the area under crop and foodgrains production.
"When Telangana State was formed in 2014, just 24.30 lakh metric tonnes of paddy was procured in kharif and rabi. This time, we have procured 49 lakh metric tonnes in kharif and 90 lakh metric tonnes in rabi, totalling 1.4 crore metric tonnes, which is highest-ever. This proves how the agriculture sector has grown by leaps and bounds in Telangana in the last seven years," Reddy said.
The previous record was 1.11 crore metric tonnes for the 2019-20 season, which was broken this year. Out of 32 districts, paddy was procured from farmers of the order of 100 per cent in 21 districts; worth Rs16,878 crore. Of this, Rs 13,753 crore was credited to the bank accounts of farmers. The government said Rs 2,000 crore was paid to farmers on Thursday alone.
