Sangam mandal farmers get money within 24 hours of selling paddy, thanks to AP govt procurement centres

Farmers in Sangam village receive timely payment for paddy sold to PGN Mill, highlighting importance of procurement centers.

Kantabattina Srihari Reddy and Kantabattina Vinod Reddy, farmers from Sangam village who sold 258 bags of BPT variety paddy to PGN Mill, a Primary Agricultural Credit Cooperative Society (PACS) in Sangam mandal, have received Rs. 1.25 lakh from AP Civil Supplies Corporation Ltd. within 24 hours of procurement.

The farmers, who sold paddy to the procurement centres set up by the state government, have expressed happiness for depositing the money into their accounts within 24 hours as promised by State Civil Supplies Minister Nadendla Manohar during his recent visit to Sangam mandal of Atmakuru Constituency.

“Instead of selling paddy to middlemen at a low price, all the farmers should take advantage of the procurement centres arranged by the district administration and get the minimum support price (MSP) as announced by the state government,” said Joint Collector K. Karthik. He has been touring extensively in the district and inspecting the paddy procurement centres.

He informed that 298 paddy procurement centers have been set up across the district. The civil supplies department has ensured that farmers would get the MSP based on the quality of the grains. The MSP for paddy has been set at Rs 23,200 per tonne for grade-A, while the price for grade-B paddy stood at Rs 23,000 per tonne.

Speaking to The Hindu, District Agriculture Officer (DAO) P. Satyavani said, “Around 11 lakh metric tonnes of paddy has been produced in 3.57 lakh acres across the district. The local farmers will sell the paddy till mid-April. If the farmers get better rate in the open market, they can sell outside as well.”

Explaining the process of paddy procurement, the DAO said that the farmers ready for harvesting should go for e-crop and e-KYC to sell paddy at the procurement centres to obtain the MSP. She asked them to contact the Village Agricultural Assistants (VAAs) of their nearest Rythu Seva Kendra (RSK) for the same. The farmers should get schedule generated by the VAAs and get coupon through SMS to their registered mobile number. The coupon is valid for seven days, she informed.

-EOM