Ranchi: State govt has begun preparations for the upcoming paddy procurement season, with a focus on ensuring fair prices, timely payments and transparency, food, public distribution and consumer affairs minister Irfan Ansari said on Friday.Reviewing the department’s preparedness, Ansari said the govt expected a good paddy harvest and would take steps to ensure farmers did not face difficulties while selling their produce.He said land verification would be a key part of this year’s procurement process. Paddy would be procured based on the area of land verified in a farmer’s name, ensuring that genuine farmers benefit and helping curb middlemen and fraud.Ansari said technology would be used to track the transportation of procured paddy. Vehicles carrying the produce would be linked to an online system to monitor the point of lifting, the vehicle used and delivery to the designated destination.The minister said the govt aimed to bring greater transparency to the entire process, from procurement and transportation to storage. He also announced plans to construct 15 warehouses, each with a capacity of 1,000 metric tonnes, during the current financial year.The govt has set a target of procuring 50 lakh quintals of paddy this year, compared with 60 lakh quintals last year. The target for rice production has been fixed at 19 lakh quintals. Procurement plans will be revised based on the actual crop and farmer arrivals.
