Chhattisgarh farmers to sell paddy worth Rs.30 billion
By IANS
Raipur : In what has been billed as one of India's biggest exercises in paddy procurement, farmers in Chhattisgarh will earn over Rs.30 billion in the current season ending Jan 31.
About one million paddy farmers will earn over Rs.30 billion by selling an estimated four million tonnes of paddy to the Chhattisgarh government.
Paddy growers across 18 districts of Chhattisgarh have already sold about 342,000 tonnes of paddy to the state government till Nov 26. The government will continue to buy paddy till Jan 31.
"Paddy procurement drive is in full swing at 1,526 computerised procurement centres with 342,000 tonnes paddy procured by the state government through Marketing Federation (Markfed) till Nov 26," Radhakrishna Gupta, chairman, Markfed, told reporters Tuesday.
He said the Raipur district has topped so far with 92,000 tonnes of paddy sold to the government, followed by Mahasamund district with 63,037 tonnes and Dhamtari with 44,997 tonnes.
The government has fixed a price of Rs.695 per quintal for common-grade paddy. A-grade paddy will be bought at Rs.725 per quintal. Prices for both categories include a bonus of Rs.50 per quintal.
Government officials said paddy was grown in the state this year in an area of over 3.5 million hectares.