The Centre has procured 71.05 million tonnes (mt) of paddy during the kharif marketing season 2020-21, which is still going on. This is 10 per cent more than 64.62 mt procured during the previous marketing season, an official statement said on Tuesday.

The paddy procurement, which cost the exchequer ₹1,34,148 crore, included the rabi season procurement of 0.83 mt, it said.

Meanwhile, wheat procurement during the current season increased to 23.25 mt taking the total value of procurement to ₹43,916 crore. As many as 22.2 lakh wheat farmers benefited from the purchase.

Copra, pulses purchases

Similarly, based on proposal from the States, the Centre approved procurement of 10.708 mt of pulses and oilseeds under the Price Support Scheme.

The quantity of copra procured, on the other hand, from four south Indian States of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu stood at 0.123 mt.

Till Monday, nodal agencies authorised by the Centre procured nearly 0.598 mt of moong, urad, tur, gram, masoor, groundnut pods, mustard seeds and soyabean having MSP value of ₹3,137.88 crore.

Procurement operations of seed cotton (Kapas) under MSP are going on smoothly in most cotton-growing States.

Till Monday, nearly 91.89 lakh cotton bales (of 170 kg) valued ₹26,719.51 crore has been procured benefiting over 18.86lakh farmers.

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