Agartala: The council of ministers in Tripura has decided to procure at least 30,000 MT paddy produced in Rabi season from about 10,000 odd farmers of the state at the cost of Rs 1815 per quintal, which will provide Rs 54.55 Cr to the farmers. Besides, Food Corporation of India (FCI), the state government would spend at least Rs 7 Cr as milling charge. The FCI had procured 10,400 MT of paddy from 5,500 farmers at a cost of Rs 1750 per quintal in 2018-19. As many as 8,623 farmers had sold 16,870 MT paddy and FCI had paid Rs 29.50 Cr to them.
Spokesperson of the cabinet Law Minister Ratan Lal Nath said that the state government has targeted to procure 30,000 MT paddy but it might be reached to 50,000 MT, as there has been a massive response among the farmers of the state and the production was increased in manifold.
“We are encouraging the farmers to go for paddy cultivation in massive scale, as Tripura requires at least 25000 MT rice every month only for catering PDS demand but rice production in the state is much lower than the demand. (UN)
