Rourkela/Boudh: Procurement of paddy in Sundargarh will begin from December 12 through 119 paddy procurement centers.
Sundargarh Civil Supplies Officer (CSO) A Barik said in the first phase, the target is to procure about 1.30 Lakh tonnes of Paddy to process 88,700 tonnes of rice.
He said 14 rice mills of the district have been authorized for custom milling of rice and 44 large Area Multi Purpose Societies (LAMPS) would set up 112 procurement centers, while two Regional Cooperative Marketing Societies would set up four paddy sale centers. A multi -purpose cooperatives society will be set up three paddy procurement centers.
The minimum support price for Fair Average Quality (FAQ) common variety is Rs 1,750 per quintal while FAQ A grade would be Rs 1,770 per quintal. Procurement would continue till April 30.
He informed that in 2017-18 kharif crop season, the district had procured 1.47 lakh tonnes of Paddy at the cost of Rs 226 cr. He said the procurement target would be increased wijth the government approval this year.
The Special Relief Commissioner and Revenue Disaster Management Department had earlier notified 67,540 hector (ha) of land as drought hit in the district based on eye estimation report.
The overall paddy crop yield is likely to come down drastically this kharif crop season. The district had decided to take up paddy cultivation on 2.09 lakh ha in all 17 blocks, but crop damage was reported in 67,540 ha due to drought. Deficient rainfall led to over 50 percent crop damage on 35, 986 ha with Hemgir Lefripara, Tangarpali, Sundargarh, Subdega, Balishankara, Bargaon and kutra blocks facing severe drought condition.
Crop damage of 33 to 50 percent over 31,554 ha was reported from these blocks along with other blocks.
In Boudh, procurement will begin from Kantamal block on November 26. All the 42 primary paddy agriculture cooperatives societies and 10 paddy procurement centers will open from December 1. Procurement will continue till April next year.
The district has 11 millers and of them, nine have expressed interest in participating in the procurement process. It has been targeted to procure 1, 04,852 tonne of paddy which will be milled to procure 71,300 tonne of rice.
PNN