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The West Bengal government has completed a third of its targeted procurement of 52 lakh tonne (lt) of paddy in the current (2018-19) marketing season.
According to Pradip Kumar Mazumdar, Chief Advisor, Agriculture, the State has procured close to 18 lt paddy so far this season. The procurement season typically runs from November to October. However, given the pace of procurement, the State government is confident of achieving its target by March.
West Bengal procured around 25 lt of paddy in 2017-18.
MSP above market rate
The minimum support price (MSP) announced by the Centre for paddy during the current marketing season is ₹1,750 a quintal. However, the market prices are ruling at ₹1,450-1,500.
“Our initial target was to procure 52 ltthis season. But given that the market prices are ruling low, we could go for a higher procurement,” Mazumdar told BusinessLine .
The State is also offering an additional ₹20 a quintal for farmers who are selling their produce at Kisan Mandis .
“We are procuring directly through cooperatives and SHGs. Farmers can also sell their produce at Kisan Mandis . Since these are slightly farther away and entail transportation cost, we are giving them an additional ₹20 a quintal,” he said.
Funds allocation
The State has allocated close to ₹8,500 crore for paddy procurement this season.
According to a rice mill owner in Hooghly district, the plan of offering an additional ₹20 a quintal for farmers selling at Kisan Mandis has been a “runaway success.”
“Earlier, only 20 per cent of the farmers were selling at the mandis while the rest preferred selling to cooperatives. But this year, we are seeing nearly 80 per cent of farmers selling at mandis,” the mill owner said. The MSP, which is nearly ₹300 a quintal higher than the market prices, has been cited as one of the key reasons behind such positive response from farmers. This apart, farmers selling at mandis or cooperatives have been receiving instant payment through account payee cheques.
“Initially, we were making payments through RTGS, but there were some concerns that the payment may get delayed so we started making spot payments, Mazumdar said.
Storage, an issue
West Bengal produces 22-25 million tonne of paddy every year across the three seasons, that include aus, aman and boro . While the State could procure higher quantities, storage and disposal have been issues.
“We have been seeking support from the Food Corporation of India to send the procured paddy to deficit States such as Sikkim and Assam. However, FCI has been reluctant to receive the stocks,” he added.
According to the rice mill owner, the paddy procured has to be converted to rice before sending them to government godowns. However, due to the high level of procurement, mills are unable to keep pace in converting them to rice. So there is a huge backlog of stock with mills.
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