Over 18 lakh farmers benefited with MSP value of Rs 57,032.03 cr: Govt

New Delhi, Dec 2 (IANS) The government on Thursday claimed that 18.17 lakh farmers have benefitted with Minimum Support Price (MSP) value of Rs 57,032.03 crore from paddy procurement in Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2021-22.

Stating that the paddy procurement is progressing smoothly at MSP from farmers, as was done in previous years, a statement from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution said that a quantity of 290.98 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of paddy has been procured in KMS 2021-22 up to November 30 in the procuring states/UTs of Chandigarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Telangana, Rajasthan, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Odisha, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh.

So far, the maximum procurement in the ongoing KMS season is done from Punjab (186 LMT) followed by Haryana (55 LMT) and Uttar Pradesh (12 LMT). The procurement in other states is also gaining momentum, the Ministry said.

In KMS 2020-21, at least 1.31 famers were benefitted with MSP value of Rs 1,68,823.23 crore (as on November 2021) and procurement of 894 LMT was done, the release said.