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Paddy farmers not getting even Rs 1200/quintal

KT NEWS SERVICE. Dated: 10/14/2020 10:11:31 AM

NEW DELHI, Oct 13: As against the Government-declared MSP (Minimum Support Price) of Rs 1868 per quintal for paddy this season, the farmers in Uttar Pradesh are crying over very little sale and that too at less than Rs 1200 per quintal, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tweeted on Tuesday.
She said the farmers were getting Rs 3500 per quintal during the Congress regime in the country. She said the farmers are being exploited on the excuse of excess moisture in their stock, so much so that perhaps for the first time paddy is selling cheaper than wheat.
The farmer is not able to recover even his cost of production, not knowing how to go for the next crop and this is resulting in the farmer getting trapped in hands of the loan sharks, Priyanka tweeted.
She urged the Uttar Pradesh government to intervene to ensure that the farmer gets the right price for his produce.
The Centre, however, claims that its paddy procurement is progressing smoothly in the procuring states, with 42.55 lakh tonnes of paddy always bought, yielding Rs 8032 crore to 3.57 lakh farmers. This is, however, no where near the ambitious target fixed by the government to procure 700 lakh tonnes of paddy.
The big farmers of U.P., who can afford the transport cost, are carrying their paddy to Haryana to sell to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and other agencies since the government has not set up procurement centres in Uttar Pradesh. The Haryana government gives them the last priority to allow their paddy's purchase at the MSP price only after the Haryana farmers' stock coming to the Mandis is sold.