Bhubaneswar, Dec 20: The paddy procurement process has started in Deogarh district, informed an official on Saturday.

Procurement will be made in 51 mandis in the district from 21 thousand 414 farmers. For this, 51 Mandi Nodal Officers and 13 supervising officers have been appointed to oversee the process, the official said.

This year, 21,414 farmers have registered as compared to 19,662 farmers last year in the district. For this two more mandis is added in operation as compared to 49 mandis last year. A total of 62,747 acres of paddy cultivated area is registered for this Kharif season against 58,249 acres was for last season. Satellite survey of all registered paddy cultivated areas is completed.  Minimum facilities and installation of CCTVs  have been made in each Mandi. 

At present, paddy procurement is going on in Bargarh, Nuapada, Sambalpur, Kalahandi, Sundaragarh, Subarnapur and Balangir districts. So far, three lakh 5 thousand 50 Metric Tonnes of paddy procured from 67,250 farmers. In this connection, Rs 447.22 crore as MSP and Rs 138 crore as input assistance is already paid.

The procurement will be started in other districts in a phased manner. All preparations are underway in the districts for this. Apart from this, the registered farmers are being given advance information and accordingly tokens are issued. Minimum facilities are also available in mandis and MSP is being paid to the farmers' accounts within 48 hours. The government has adopted Aadhar linked e-kyc payment system. The State Government is taking various useful steps for the all-round development of the farmers.