Admin to set up 101 paddy procurement centres in Shahjahanpur district

Shahjahanpur: The district administration will be setting up 101 centres to procure paddy from farmers across Shahjahanpur, beginning from October 1, according to officials. Paddy of common variety will be procured at a minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 1,470 a quintal and grade A variety at an MSP of Rs 1,510 per quintal. A toll-free number (1800-1800-150) has been set up by the state government to address issues faced by farmers in selling their paddy crop.Agencies like PCF, UP Agro, UPSS and SFC will open their centres to assist in the procurement of the crop.
Shahjahanpur is an agriculture-centric district and known to be a good producer of paddy, sugarcane and wheat crops. However, the production of wheat is expected to decrease this time because farmers have opted for sugarcane over paddy because the ‘Satha’ variety of paddy was banned by the administration because it consumes more water than the normal variety of paddy.
Meanwhile, farmers are praying for a dry spell for the next few days, because paddy with minimum level of moisture is procured by the government. Last year, farmers had to suffer heavy losses in paddy crops mainly due to heavy rains.
Many farmers even had to sell paddy at as low as Rs 900 per quintal after government procurement agencies refused to buy paddy with higher moisture than the permissible level.
Kewal Singh, a local farmer from Khuthar told TOI, “We are hoping there won’t be any rain, because otherwise the quality of paddy we have grown will be degraded. If it rains, all our hard work will go in vain because the paddy will not be procured by the government centres at good rates.”
District magistrate Ram Ganesh Yadav said, “A total of 101 procurement centres will be set up in the district to ensure that the farmers don’t have to face difficulties in carrying their crop far away from their villages. I will be keeping an eye on the procurement process and ensure that the targets are met and the farmers are paid for their hard work.”