Kathua: Vice Chairman, Kissan Advisory Board, Daljeet Singh Chib Wednesday said the state government was keen to enable the farmers to get due value of their produce and for this it has increased the number of procurement centres to facilitate the stakeholders.
He was speaking after inaugurating a Paddy Procurement Centre at Palli, Kathua, here Wednesday.
During his visit, Vice-Chairman inaugurated six Paddy Procurement Centers at Bhajwal, Palli, Nagri, Chann-Arorian, Airwan and Sanji Morh in the district.
The Vice Chairman said the motive behind increasing the procurement centre was to ensure that farmers be provided at least Minimum Support Price (MSP) at their doorsteps and discourage exploitation by middle man. He also informed that Government has approved rate of Rs.1550 and Rs.1590 for China and Rattna paddy respectively which will be procured by the Food Corporation of India. He said the MSP will help farmers to get competitive price from market hence providing more value of their produce. He said government is eyeing on procuring maximum paddy and wheat crop to lower down its dependency on other states.
MLA Kathua Rajeev Jasrotia, while speaking on the occasion, said Kathua district is one of the main contributory of paddy crop in the state and need was felt to make procurement process easy and farmer friendly. He said Kathua district will have 7 procurement centers for procuring paddy crop. He also announced 5 lakh for each procurement center out of his constituency for strengthening infrastructure. He said inter-department coordination is a key to minimize the problems of the farmers who deserve best value of the hard-earned crop produce.
MLA Hiranagar Kuldeep Kumar, also spoke on the occasion and demanded opening of two procurement centers at border village Rajpura and Sherpur. He also called for creating maximum awareness among farmers about the benefits of selling their produce at procurement centers, especially in border villages.
Deputy Commissioner Kathua Rashpal Singh, GM FCI Kishore Kumar, Director FSC&CA Rashid Inqlabi, Director Agriculture Jammu H.K Razdan and district and sectoral officers and a large number of farmers were present on the occasion.
