Telangana Govt Initiates Procurement of Maize, Jowar at MSP With Own Funds

Hyderabad: The state government has begun procurement of maize and jowar directly from farmers at the minimum support price (MSP) with its own funds, while also planning to distribute the procured grain through ration shops at subsidised rates. Agriculture minister Tummala Nageswara Rao asked officials to speed up purchase of maize and ensure that farmers do not face any inconvenience.

At a meeting with senior officials from the agriculture and marketing departments on Friday, the minister assessed maize procurement, storage facilities, availability of gunny bags, transportation arrangements and the Centre’s procurement policies. He said that 9.57 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of maize had been procured from farmers.

The minister stated that although the Centre had not agreed to procure maize, the state government had purchased it spending an estimated `4,000 crore from its own funds. He added that the government was prepared to procure jowar cultivated at a cost of `1,000 crore to the exchequer.

Nageswara Rao said storage facilities were need for 15.07 LMT for the procured maize but only 11.40 LMT space was available, leaving a shortfall of 3.29 LMT. He instructed marketing officials to immediately identify additional warehouses and complete the required arrangements without delay.

The minister said around three crore gunny bags were needed for maize of which two crore had been supplied. He directed officials to ensure immediate availability of the remaining one crore bags. He also stressed that there should be no shortage of labourers at uploading points in procurement centres and instructed officials to ensure adequate availability of lorries for transporting produce from procurement centres to warehouses.

Nageswara Rao expressed disappointment that the Centre had not responded to repeated requests from the government to include maize and jowar under the price support scheme (PSS). This was unfortunate as farmers were facing difficulties due to unseasonal rains.

The minister demanded that the existing 25 per cent procurement ceiling for Bengal gram and sunflower crops under the PSS be immediately increased to 50 per cent and said another letter would be written to the Union agriculture minister on the issue.

Nageswara Rao said ensuring remunerative prices for farmers’ produce and rewarding their hard work was the responsibility of the Centre. While the Centre was stepping away from its responsibilities, the Telangana government remained committed to farmer welfare and was taking measures to ensure smooth procurement operations without causing hardship to farmers.