Hyderabad, Jan 13 (IANS) Telangana achieved record paddy procurement of 70.82 lakh tonnes during the 2025-26 Kharif marketing season, surpassing the 2020-21 procurement of 70.2 lakh tonnes.
Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy said on Tuesday that Telangana has achieved a milestone in paddy procurement.
He said the record procurement has benefited about 14 lakh farmers across the State. The State disbursed ₹16,606 crore as the Minimum Support Price (MSP). The farmers were also paid a ₹1,425 crore bonus.
The minister termed the achievement a Sankranti bonanza for Telangana farmers. While greeting farmers on Sankranti, he described it as a festival of gratitude, prosperity, and farmer welfare.
Uttam Kumar Reddy stated that the Congress government is committed to the welfare of farmers and agricultural prosperity.
He said that Telangana achieved this milestone due to the partnership of farmers.
Out of the total 70.82 lakh tonnes of paddy procured, 32.45 lakh tonnes were coarse paddy, while the remaining 38.37 lakh tonnes of paddy were of the fine variety.
The farmers who grew a fine variety of paddy were paid a bonus at the rate of Rs 500 per quintal.
On the eve of Sankranti, the Civil Supplies Department released ₹500 crore towards the payment of bonus for farmers, at the direction of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, the department credited the bonus amount in the bank accounts of farmers. With this, the government has paid a total of ₹1,429 crore in bonuses.
In October last year, Uttam Kumar Reddy had announced that Telangana achieved an all-time high paddy production of 148.03 lakh tonnes during the kharif season.
This is claimed to be the highest paddy production by any state in the country.
He had stated that the State achieved a record production due to the policies followed by the state government under the leadership of Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka towards agriculture and the farmers.
A total of 8,342 paddy procurement centres were established across the State to purchase paddy grown on a total area of 66.8 lakh acres. As many as 4,259 centres were established through primary agricultural cooperative societies, 3,517 through IKP centres, and another 566 centres through other organisations.
–IANS
ms/dan
