95 per cent rabi paddy procurement over in Odisha, target to be met by June 30: Food Supplies minister

With only a week left for completion of rabi paddy procurement, the state government on Sunday said 95 per cent of the target has been achieved. Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare minister Krushna Chandra Patra told media persons here that the state government had set a revised target to procure 18 lakh tonnes of rabi paddy. So far 17 lakh tonne paddies have been procured which comes to around 95 per cent of the target. June 30 being the last date of procurement, the remaining one lakh tonne will be easily purchased, he said. The minister said, “Our priority is to purchase paddy from registered farmers well before the expiry of their tokens and ensure that they receive Rs 3,100 per quintal including the Rs 800 input subsidy announced by the government.” He conceded that procurement got delayed in some districts due to pre-monsoon rains. With limited storage space, mandis would not take the risk of keeping more stock due to high chances of paddy getting