Chhattisgarh government has procured over 84.44 lakh metric tonnes of paddy in the 2020-21 Kharif marketing season, with nine days still left in the procurement drive, an official said on Friday.

With this, Chhattisgarh's paddy procurement touched an all-time high of Chhattisgarh has recorded the highest paddy procurement ever in the ongoing Kharif marketing season till Thursday since its formation in 2000, the official said.

The paddy procurement is scheduled to continue till January 31, and till then, the overall quantity is expected to reach 90 LMT, he said. Procurement of paddy is done in the state through cooperative societies.

As per the statement issued by the public relations department, it reads - ''Nearly 84.44 LMT of paddy was procured till Thursday at minimum support price (MSP). This is about 50,000 MT more than the previous record of 83.94 LMT procured in the last Kharif marketing season. As many as 19,54,332 farmers have sold their paddy so far,''

In the Kharif marketing season 2018-19, 80.83 LMT of paddy was purchased, while in 2019-20, it rose to 83.94 LMT, it was stated. Similarly, the number of registered farmers selling paddy at the support price, which was 16.96 lakh in 2018-19, reached 19.55 lakh in 2019-20, the release said. In the current Kharif marketing season, this strength has reached 21.52 lakh, it added.

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