Staff Reporter
Guwahati: Despite an increase in the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for paddy in the first crop of Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2024-25, participation of farmers in the procurement process by designated agencies remains quite low, as of December 12, 2024.
A total of 17,219 farmers have applied for the procurement process. However, only 14,178 farmers have registered till now, mentioning that 1,69,215 MT of paddy is available for procurement. The number of farmers participating in the procurement process by designated agencies is only 2,090. The quantity of paddy delivered by them is 21,038 MT until December 12.
Significantly, in the first crop of KMS 2022-23, a total of 99,575 registered for the procurement process, citing the availability of 8,97,102 MT of paddy. However, 61,115 farmers sold 5,92,846 MT of paddy, against the target of 9,53,250 MT set by procurement agencies. In KMS 2023-24, the number of registered farmers dropped to 70,136, citing the availability of 5,33,343 MT of paddy. However, by the end of the season, less than half, or 33,140 farmers, participated in the process, selling 3,14,937 MT of paddy against the target of 6,53,700 MT set by the agencies concerned.
To encourage more farmers to participate in the procurement process, the central government has increased the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for common paddy for this year's first crop of KMS to Rs 2,300 per quintal. The MSP for paddy has been increasing consistently over the past five years. In 2020-21, the MSP for common paddy was Rs 1,868, which increased to Rs 1,940 in 2021-22, Rs 2,040 in 2022-23, Rs 2,183 in 2023-24, and Rs 2,300 per quintal for this year. Despite this, the participation of farmers in the procurement process leaves a lot to be desired.
The primary reason for the unsatisfactory participation of farmers can be attributed to the necessity of certain facts to be supplied in the portal for registration, like details of the cultivated land and documents like Voter ID, bank passbook, as well as the active mobile phone number linked with the Aadhar card, etc. There is also a lack of awareness disseminated among farmers by the Agriculture department and the procurement agencies. Another factor affecting procurement is rejection of paddy due to the presence of moisture in the paddy.
Officials point to positives in the procurement process for paddy, like the elimination of middlemen. But farmers are reluctant to provide paddy to the procurement agencies as the price of paddy in the open market is more than the MSP fixed by the government. So they prefer selling their produce in the open market.
It is to be mentioned here that the target for procurement of paddy for the first crop of the KMS 2024-25 in Assam has been set at 5,71,500 metric tonnes (MT). The procurement target for the first crop in KMS 2023-24 was 6,53,700 MT. The target has been decreased by 82,200 MT for the first crop of KMS this year.
The procurement agencies for paddy in Assam are AFCSCL (Assam Food and Civil Supplies Corporation Ltd), ASAMB (Assam State Agricultural Marketing Board), Food Corporation of India (FCI), and NAFED (National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd).
Also Read: Assam Sets Paddy Procurement Target of 5.7 Lakh MT for 1st Crop of KMS 2024-25
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