Guwahati: Assam government has set a target to buy 10 lakh metric tones of paddy from farmers at a new rate of Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rs. 2,040 per quintal.

The government has raise MSP by Rs. 100 per quintal from Rs. 1,940 to Rs. 2,040 this season.

In absence of any paddy procurement centre, Food Corporation of India, Assam Food and Civil Supplies Corporation Limited has been given target to buy 4 lakh metric tones of paddy at new MSP rate.

Other government paddy procurement agencies like Assam State Agriculture Marketing Board, NAFED and more agencies have been set a target to procure the paddy to meet the state’s estimated target.

Notably, the Assam government has fallen short by nearly 40 percent to meet the target set for procurement of paddy at Minimum Support Price (MSP) from its farmers for 2021-22.

While Food Corporation of India (FCI) achieved 43.45 percent of its target, the other three agencies’ success rates ranged from 36.57 percent to 47.50 percent.

Food and Civil Supplies Minister Ranjeet Kumar Dass had said while the percentage of the target achieved may seem low, in terms of quantity the state has performed much better compared to previous years.

“Paddy procurement from farmers by government agencies has been low in the state. In the previous KMS, it was only 2.22 lakh MT. We have now started putting thrust on it and we expect the figures to increase substantially soon.”

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