Kendrapada: Odisha State Civil Supplies Corporation (OSCSP) has decided to procure 81,200 metric tonnes of paddy from farmers in Kendrapada district from Jan 9 next year.“We entrusted all 118 primary agriculture cooperative societies (PACS) to procure 81,200 MT of paddy from farmers in the first phase. Later, we will purchase more paddy from farmers. Authorities have fixed Rs 3,100 as price per quintal of FAQ (fair average quality) paddy,” said Benudhar Panigrahi, district civil supplies officer.The minimum support price (MSP) for paddy is Rs 2,369 per quintal for the common variety and Rs 2,389 per quintal for Grade A. In addition, state govt provides input assistance of Rs 800 per quintal, which takes the final price paid to farmers for both varieties to Rs 3,100 per quintal.“We will take stringent action against rice mill owners who don’t abide by the rules and norms of OSCSP. Till date, 52,092 farmers have registered their names online to sell their paddy crop. We hope more farmers will register soon,” added Panigrahi.Farmers raised paddy crops over 1,17,554 hectares of land out of a total of 1,42,165 hectares. “Each year, a large number of farmers sell their paddy at throwaway prices to mill owners to meet daily expenses. Authorities should take steps to check distress sale,” said Umesh Chandra Singh, a farmer leader.“Unseasonal rain from Oct to Nov damaged large tracts of paddy crops in Rajnagar, Pattamundai, Rajkanika, Aul and Mahakalapada blocks. Many farmers are worried as it would not be possible to harvest FAQ paddy,” said Nagendra Jena, a farmer of Kalapada village.
