As the paddy procurement is progressing smoothly in Kharif Marketing Season 2023-24, more than eight lakh farmers have benefitted with MSP value of Rs 11,745 crore in Uttar Pradesh.
A quantity of over 53.79 lakh Metric Tonnes of Paddy has been procured in KMS 2023-24, officials here on Saturday said.
Notably, the government had set the minimum support price for common paddy at Rs 2,183 per quintal and Rs 2,203 per quintal for Grade A paddy.
In terms of procurement, the Lucknow division topped the list with over 7.52 lakh metric tonnes of paddy purchased. Bareilly division secured the second position with 6.49 lakh metric tonnes procured, followed closely by Varanasi division with more than 6.18 lakh metric tonnes of paddy purchased.
Additionally, procurement from over one lakh farmers was recorded in both the Lucknow and Ayodhya divisions.
Additionally, Gorakhpur division purchased 5.09 lakh MT, Ayodhya division 5.78 lakh MT, Moradabad division 4.61 lakh MT, Prayagraj division 4.53 lakh MT, Devipatan division 3.38 lakh MT, Basti division 2.89 lakh MT, Mirzapur division 2.68 lakh MT, and Azamgarh division 2.12 lakh MTs. Furthermore, Kanpur division procured 1.81 lakh MT, while Chitrakoot Dham division purchased over 42,000 MT of paddy in Uttar Pradesh.
The Yogi government provided extensive support to farmers for paddy procurement, resulting in high participation from across the state. Notably, the highest number of purchases were made from farmers in Lucknow division, totaling 1,05,925. Similarly, 1,02,908 farmers in Ayodhya, 91,409 in Gorakhpur, and 90,145 in Varanasi benefited from the initiative.
Purchases were also significant in other divisions, including 79,960 farmers in Bareilly, 78,933 in Prayagraj, 54,604 in Moradabad, 47,242 in Devipatan, 40,831 in Mirzapur, 38,079 in Azamgarh, 36,252 in Basti, 24,035 in Kanpur, and 7,650 in Chitrakoot. Overall, paddy was procured from a total of 8,01,624 farmers at 5,207 centres spanning Eastern and Western Uttar Pradesh.