KCR announces MSP for farmers; to procure entire paddy, cotton crops in Telangana
By Newsmeter Network Published on 7 Oct 2020 4:26 AM GMT
Hyderabad : Weeks after Centre passed controversial farm bills, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao said the state government would purchase paddy and cotton crops from the farmers this rainy season.
The CM has instructed concerned officials to purchase entire paddy in the state by setting up 6,000 purchasing centers.
KCR reiterated that the government aims to stand by farmers at every stage from extending financial assistance for crop investment to purchasing the produce.
The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by the CM at Pragathi Bhavan on Tuesday. KCR said 134.87 lakh acres of land is under cultivation of different crops. This includes 52.77 lakh acres under paddy cultivation, 60.36 lakh acres under cotton cultivation, and 10.78 lakh acres under red gram cultivation.
He said paddy would be procured completely through IKP centers, Cooperative Societies and the marketing department. The CM urged farmers not to go in for any distress sale. He said the government would buy 'A' grade paddy variety for Rs 1,888 per quintal and 'B' grade variety for Rs 1,868 per quintal if it has below 17 percent moisture.
The CM urged farmers to bring only dried paddy for availing Minimum Support Price. He appealed the farmers not to bring paddy with high moisture content, which may create problems. KCR said guidelines regarding the purchase of Paddy would be released in a day or two and the agriculture, marketing, and civil supplies department would work in coordination.
The CM said efforts are on to procure cotton through Cotton Corporation of India (CCI). He said continuous discussions are taking place with the CCI in this regard. The CM also instructed the officials to clear any doubts the farmers may express through the Call Centers.
Ministers S Niranjan Reddy, Gangula Kamalakar, Rythu Bandhu, State President Palla Rajeshwar Reddy, MLA C Laxmareddy, Government’s Chief Advisor Rajiv Sharma, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, Civil Supplies Corporation Chairman Mareddy Srinivas Reddy, TESCOB Chairman Konduru Ravindra Rao, Pedapalli ZP Chairman Putta Madhu, CM Secretary Smita Sabharwal, Agriculture Secretary Janardhan Reddy, Civil Supplies Commissioner Anil Kumar, Marketing Director Lakshmibai and others participated in the meeting.
