Paddy purchase declines as farmers hold back in run-up to elections

livemint.com:

NEW DELHI : Government procurement of paddy has fallen as farmers hold back on selling their crop, hoping for sops ahead of Assembly elections in five states this year. The union government, through the federal Food Corporation of India (FCI) and state agencies, has procured 14.7 million tonnes (mt) of paddy in the ongoing kharif marketing season that started on 1 October, as against 15.9 million tonnes in the corresponding period last year. The slow progress is due to farmers holding back their crops in the hope of bonuses or special announcements ahead of the five state assembly elections from 7 November this year, a government official said.

Elections are due in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Telangana. The Bhupesh Baghel-led Chhattisgarh government has promised to hike the paddy procurement price to ₹ 3,600 per quintal, apart from giving more incentives to landless farm labourers. As it is, the state offers the highest prices to its paddy farmers.

For the 2022-23 crop, Chhattisgarh farmers were paid ₹2,640 per quintal for common variety and ₹2,660 for grade ‘A’ paddy, well above the Centre’s minimum support price (MSP) of ₹2,040-2,060. According to the Food Corporation of India data, paddy procurement in Chhattisgarh has so far been nil, compared with total procurement of 8.7 in the last kharif marketing year. In Madhya Pradesh and Telangana, too, no procurement has taken place till date against last entire season’s 4.6 million tonnes and 6.5 million tonnes, respectively.