Hyderabad: The Congress govt has launched a paddy procurement operations for the yasangi (rabi) 2024–25 season, setting a target of 70.13 lakh metric tonnes (LMTs). This follows an estimated production of 127.50 LMTs over 57 lakh acres, placing Telangana at the top among the country’s paddy-producing states. In vanakalam (kharif), Telangana had produced 153.5 LMTs of paddy over 66.7 lakh acres.
Addressing district collectors via video conference from Civil Supplies Bhavan on Saturday, irrigation minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy said, “After a smooth and nearly flawless vanakalam procurement, we must now execute yasangi procurement with equal or greater efficiency.”
Highlighting the urgency of the procurement drive, Uttam cautioned officials to remain alert due to unseasonal rains reported in several districts. He said such weather fluctuations could damage harvested or standing paddy if not procured swiftly. “This is why we must act efficiently and quickly – any delay could mean losses for our farmers,” he told the collectors, urging intensified ground-level monitoring and infrastructure preparedness at PPCs. As of April 18, around 8.51 LMTs of paddy arrived at procurement centres, of which 5.77 LMTs were already procured – 3.79 LMTs of fine variety (Sanna) and 1.98 LMTs of coarse (Doddu). A total of 63,887 farmers benefited, and payments, including bonuses, were being processed. Around 2.74 LMTs of paddy remained to be lifted from PPCs.
To achieve the procurement target, 7,337 Paddy Procurement Centres (PPCs) have been activated out of the proposed 8,329, reaching 88% operational status. These centres are managed by Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS), Indira Kranthi Patham (IKP) groups, and other agencies. Districts such as Nizamabad, Kamareddy, Nalgonda, and Siddipet have reported full PPC operationalisation.