After Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao assured farmers that the Government would buy each grain that they produced in the Rabi season, the Telangana State Co-operative Marketing Federation (TS Markfed) has been given a bank guarantee by the State.

The government has decided to buy all the maize directly from the farmers as the market yards across the State have been closed on COVID-19 apprehensions.

The guarantee will help Markfed raise ₹3,213 crore from banks or financial institutions to fund the procurement. The government issued an order on Tuesday, designating TS Markfed as the nodal agency for maize procurement.

The maize area in the State went up by 50 per cent to about 6.11 lakh acres as against the normal Rabi acreage of 4.11 lakh acres. The State expects to produce about 14.59 lakh tonnes of maize this season. The Chief Minister has directed officials to pay the MSP (minimum support price).

The MSP for maize for the 2019-20 agricultural season was put at ₹1,760 a quintal, which is ₹60 higher than the previous year’s price.

The Chief Minister said farmers can sell the produce to traders too, provided they pay the MSP. The farmers will be given coupons, giving them the date and time when their produce would be purchased.

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