Paddy arrivals touch peak; Procurement crosses 18.5 lakh tonne mark

Hyderabad: The paddy purchase centres are packed in a majority of the districts as the arrivals touched the peak. The procurement of paddy had so far crossed 18.5 lakh tonne mark, as the daily arrivals are in the range of 1 lakh tonnes to 1.25 lakh tonnes.

The paddy arrivals picked up even in districts like Nirmal, Mulugu and Nagarkurnool that are known for late transplantation. Arrivals in such centres are on par with Nalgonda and Nizamabad, said officials.

Senior officials drafted for monitoring the minimum support price (MSP) operations are reaching out to the purchase centres as part of their stock taking exercise from time to time.

As the day temperatures are soaring further in the states, they were asked to take precautions and make adequate arrangements at the purchase centres and the market yards. Officials were asked to ensure the availability of drinking water in the purchase centres.

The officials were also asked to speed up the process for entering the farmers particulars, so that they would not be exposed to the sun.

So far as the payments are concerned, the amounts due to the farmers were being credited to their accounts within 48 hours or two working days. despite heat wave conditions prevailing all over the state, the moisture content in the grain remained above the permissible levels in a majority of the places, thus resulting in delays, they said.