Assam Sets Paddy Procurement Target of 5.7 Lakh MT for 1st Crop of KMS 2024-25

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: The target for procurement of paddy for the first crop of the Kharif Marketing Season (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.

Like in previous years, the procurement will be done by four agencies—two central and two state agencies. The procurement agencies 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).

The procurement target is 4,09,000 MT for AFCSCL, 4,500 MT for ASAMB, 88,000 MT for FCI, and 70,000 MT for NAFED.

The agencies procured 3,14,937 MT in the first crop of KMS in 2023-24, against the procurement target of 6,53,700 MT, registering a procurement of 48.17 percent. In the second crop of KMS 2023-24, the agencies procured 79,209 MT against the procurement target of 88,700 MT, registering a procurement of 89.30 percent.

The paddy procurement for the first crop season started on December 1, 2023, and concluded on June 30, 2024. The procurement in the second crop season that started in July ended on September 30, 2024.

For this year’s first crop of KMS, the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for paddy is Rs 2,300 per quintal for common paddy. 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.

The procurement of paddy in the first crop of KMS 2024-25 has already started and will be concluded by June 2025.

The number of procurement centres this year has been fixed at 163, of which 115 are under AFCSCL, 5 under ASAMB, 23 under FCI, and 20 under NAFED.

Last year, the two central agencies of FCI and NAFED failed to fulfil their procurement targets, while the two state agencies of AFCSCL and ASAMB fared much better, although they could not fulfil their targets fully.

The breakup of paddy procurement by the four agencies last year (2023-24) is: (i)271061.02 MT (57.83 percent) against the target of 4,68,700 MT in the first crop by AFCSCL, and 67943 MT in the second against the target of 68900 MT (98.61 percent); (ii) 3503.78 MT (70.07 percent) against the target of 5,000 MT by ASAMB in the first crop, and 1858 MT (37.16 percent) against target of 5,000 MT in the second crop; (iii) 12100.24 MT (15.92 percent) against the target of 76,000 MT by FCI in the first crop, and 1,167 MT (28.9 percent) against the target of 4,000 MT in the second crop; and (iv) 28272.51 MT (27.18 percent) against the target of 1,04,000 MT by NAFED in the first crop, and 8250.98 (64.46 percent) against the target of 12800 MT in the second crop.

 Also read: Assam: 53% of Paddy Procured in State

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