PATNA: Chief minister (CM) Nitish Kumar on Saturday said the government would procure 3.5 lakh metric tonnes of wheat from the farmers by June 15 and it would be a “very big achievement” for the state.
While chairing a meeting through videoconferencing to review the latest status of wheat procurement in the state in the current rabi marketing season of 2021-22, he said, “The state government has so far procured 3.18 lakh metric tonnes of wheat from farmers and there is a possibility that the quantity will increase to 3.5 lakh metric tonnes by June 15.” The Centre has fixed Rs 1,975 per quintal minimum support price (MSP) for wheat for the current season.
The state government is procuring wheat from the farmers on the MSP, a cooperative department official said.
While reviewing the procurement status, the CM asked the officials concerned to further increase the targets of paddy and wheat procurement in the next season.
“We have to further increase procurement of paddy and wheat in the state from the next procurement season,” he added.
Nitish also asked the officials concerned to prepare a district-wise target for the next year’s procurement after carrying out a region-wise study of production and productivity of different crops.
“Fix the procurement target on the basis of production of a particular crop in a region and try to achieve the target in the next procurement season,” the CM told the officials.
He asked the officials of three departments – cooperative, food & consumer protection and agriculture – to work in proper coordination with each other after preparing a better work plan so that the increased target of procurement could be achieved in the next season.
The CM also said the state procured a record 35 lakh tonnes of paddy from the farmers this year and the wheat procurement would also reach up to 3.5 lakh tonnes by June 15.
The state government has fixed June 15 as the last date for wheat procurement during the current rabi marketing season.
Earlier, cooperative department’s secretary Bandana Preyashi made a presentation before the CM on the current status of wheat procurement in the state.