Procurement of paddy in Madhya Pradesh this year by the Madhya Pradesh government under the minimum support prices (MSP) has far exceeded procurement of other key kharif crops so far this year, a state farm department official said. 

Out of a total procurement of 3.9 million tons of key kharif crops including jowar and bajra, over 3.7 mln tons of paddy in the state has been procured so far. Among other kharif crops, 195,336 tons of bajra and 29,582 tons of wheat have been procured in the state so far. According to agriculture department officials, paddy has been procured at the minimum support price from 582,969 farmers, while bajra has been procured from 35,926 farmers, and jowar from 6,491 farmers.

 The paddy procurement drive is likely to gain momentum in the coming days as farmers want to sell their existing stocks to create space for rabi crops, the official said. Harvesting of rabi crops will begin in February. A week ago, total procurement of these kharif crops was 3.3 mln tons.

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