UP transfers Rs 5,100 crore in MSP to paddy farmers

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow, 21 Dec

Amid the ongoing farm stir, the Uttar Pradesh government has transferred more than Rs 5,100 crore in the minimum support price (MSP) to the bank accounts of the state paddy farmers.

Besides, the state has logged nearly 20 per cent jump in paddy procurement compared to the corresponding period of the kharif marketing season last year. Compared to the paddy procurement of about 3.3 million tonnes (MT) in 2019-20, the corresponding figure for the current season is in excess of 3.96 MT, a jump of 20 per cent over last year.

Since, the UP government is targetting 5.5 MT in paddy purchase, the procurement agencies have achieved 72 per cent of the target with over two months still left in the kharif procurement cycle.

According to the UP food and civil supplies department, more than 740,000 state paddy farmers had so far directly benefitted under the MSP purchase mechanism. The MSP of A-grade and common variety of paddy in this kharif season was fixed at Rs 1,888 per quintal and Rs 1,868 per quintal respectively.

In the 2020-21 kharif season, the UP paddy output is estimated at 26.4 MT, while the state is expecting rice production of 17.7 MT. Last year, the paddy production in UP stood at 24.4 MT, while the state government had procured 5.657 MT of paddy from farmers. UP is among the top paddy producers in India.

In wake of the ongoing stir in the national capital region (NCR) over new central farm laws, chief minister Yogi Adityanath had directed senior officials to ensure seamless functioning of the procurement centres and prompt payment to the farmers. As such, the procurement process is being monitored at the highest level.

Earlier, the state government had decided to raise Rs 3,000 crore in bank loans to pay farmers for the MSP paddy procurement. The short term working capital loan was meant to be sourced by state nodal agency UP State Food and Essential Commodities Corporation Limited (SFC), which in turn allocates funds to the food and civil supplies department for the field paddy procurement.

The government would stand as guarantor for the Rs 3,000 crore credit window, while the interest payment of the loan, until it is finally repaid by the SFC, would also be incurred by the state.

Meanwhile, the different government agencies have set up about 4,000 procurement centres, including 100 odd operated by the Food Corporation of India (FCI).

The procurement season in the Western UP districts started from October 1 to January 31, 2021, while in the Eastern UP pockets, the paddy procurement began on October 15 and would continue till February 28, 2021.

For greater efficiency, the government had geo-tagged rice millers for the custom milling of paddy. The food storage depots were also geo-tagged.