The figure expected to be more than 98 percent this year
Due to Bhupesh government’s policies, the number of farmers selling paddy in the state has increased from 12 lakh to 18.38 lakh
Raipur, December 4
The percentage of farmers getting benefit from state government’s paddy purchase at the support price is more than 94 percent in Chhattisgarh state. Due to the farmer-friendly policies of Bhupesh Baghel government, not only the acreage of agriculture has increased in Chhattisgarh in the last two years, but the people who had abandoned farming as a non-profit business, are once again coming back towards farming.
In Chhattisgarh, where 76 percent of the farmers sold paddy on MSP in 2017, after the arrival of Bhupesh government, it has shown an unprecedented growth and the figure has reached 92.61 percent in 2018 and 94.02 percent in 2019. This year 2 lakh 48 thousand 171 new farmers have registered, so this figure is expected to cross 98 percent this time.
Paddy procurement has started in Chhattisgarh on support price from December 1. 21 lakh 29 thousand 764 farmers have registered to sell paddy in the state this year, the area under which paddy is sown is more than 27 lakh 59 thousand 385 hectares. In two years, the area under paddy selling has increased from 19.36 lakh hectare to 22.68 lakh hectare and the number of farmers has increased from 12 lakh 6 thousand to 18 lakh 38 thousand.
In the year 2017-18, 56.85 lakh metric tonnes of paddy was purchased in Chhattisgarh at the support price. During two years, this figure of paddy procurement reached 83.94 lakh MT. Considering the number of farmers registered to sell paddy this year and the area under paddy production, the farmers benefitting from support price are estimated to be higher than last year.
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Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has waived agricultural loan of about 9 thousand crore rupees of 17 lakh 82 thousand farmers of the state and irrigation tax of Rs 244.18 crore outstanding on more than 17 lakh farmers for years. The Government of Chhattisgarh launched the Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojana from 21 May 2020 to provide the farmers their right and fair price for their produce. 5750 crore rupees are being given to the 19 lakh farmers of the state in four installments under this scheme. So far, direct assistance of Rs 4500 crore has been given to the farmers in three installments.
