Kurukshetra: Haryana agriculture and farmers’ welfare minister Shyam Singh Rana on Monday urged farmers to bring adequately dried paddy to mandis to avoid problems during procurement, which is allowed up to a moisture content of 17%.Rana, speaking to mediapersons at his Sector 8 office, said the govt stood with farmers and commission agents and urged farmers not to rush to sell paddy with high moisture content. “Govt, farmers and traders are members of the same family,” he said, also encouraging farmers to cultivate pulses along with wheat and paddy.Explaining the moisture issue, Rana said manually harvested paddy earlier took 20 days to a month to reach mandis, allowing it to dry. With combine harvesting, the crop can reach markets within about half an hour, often with higher moisture levels.He said rice mills have to deliver 67 kg of rice against every quintal of paddy, and excessive moisture reduces rice recovery after drying.Rana said the Centre handled paddy procurement while the state govt made related arrangements.He said agriculture had undergone significant changes through improved infrastructure, irrigation, natural farming and modern technology.Under PM-KISAN, farmers receive Rs 6,000 annually in direct assistance, with Rs 4.5 lakh crore disbursed so far, he said. Under PM Fasal Bima Yojana, 4.2 crore farmers have benefited, while more than Rs 5 lakh crore worth of crops have been traded through e-NAM, linking 1,656 mandis and more than 1.8 crore farmers.Rana said around 8 crore farmers were receiving easier credit through Kisan Credit Cards. He also cited growth in millet cultivation and fish production, saying fish output had risen from 95 lakh tonnes in 2014-15 to nearly 2 crore tonnes.
