AFCSCL buys 10,000 metric tons of paddy from farmers 

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The Assam Food and Civil Supplies Corporation Ltd (AFCSCL) has so far procured 10,000 metric tons (MT) of paddy directly from farmers in the State. Such procurement will continue till April this year.

The development has boosted farmers’ income as direct procurement is helping them to get the deserving price for their paddy. The AFCSCL has been procuring paddy from five procurement centres on Nagaon, Morigaon and Darrang districts. Similar procurement will be carried out at two centres in Hojai district later.

The Minimum Support Price (MSP) for paddy has been fixed at Rs 1815 per quintal. Money against total procurement of paddy from different farmers will be transferred to their bank accounts to maintain transparency.

Farmers have not been getting the deserving prices of agriculture produces in the State due to involvement of brokers and third party in selling their products in markets. A survey conducted by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) in 2019 revealed that the monthly income of agricultural families in Assam is the lowest among the North Eastern States.

The AFCSCL will procure a total of 25,000 metric tons (MT) of paddy from farmers by spending Rs 51 crore. Besides AFCSCL other central and state agencies will procure 3.62 lakh MT of paddy from farmers from 109 procurement centres across the State.

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