Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday announced that the state has achieved a historic feat by crossing the 8 lakh metric tonne (MT) mark in paddy procurement in Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2024-25 under the Minimum Support Price (MSP) scheme. The Chief Minister described it as a major achievement towards the agricultural prosperity of the state. Posting on social media platform X, he wrote, “I am proud that Assam has set a new record in paddy procurement during KMS 2024-25. For the first time, Assam has crossed the 8 lakh MT mark – this is a historic moment in our journey to prosperity.”
Record procurement in two crop cycles
Chief Minister Sarma said that 6,97,802.74 MT of paddy was procured in the first crop cycle and 1,04,757.98 MT in the second crop cycle. Thus the total procurement figure reached 8,02,560.72 MT. This achievement is not only the result of the hard work of the farmers but also a testimony to the policies of the state government, which aim to ensure better prices and timely payment to the farmers. It is clear from this record that Assam is now gradually moving towards self-reliant agricultural production.
Big announcement of the central government for cotton farmers
Meanwhile, the central government has made a big announcement regarding the purchase at the minimum support price (MSP), giving relief to cotton farmers. Union Textiles Minister Giriraj Singh assured that all the cotton crops coming this season which come under the MSP standards will be procured without any hindrance. He said that the goal of the government is to protect the interests of the farmers and ensure fair price for their produce. For this, a high-level meeting was held in New Delhi, in which senior officials of the Cotton Corporation (CCI) and the Ministry were present. The work of cotton procurement will start from October 1, 2025.
Transparent process and 550 centers established under Digital India
The Union Minister said that now the entire process of cotton procurement has been made digital and paperless. This will further strengthen the confidence of farmers and all stakeholders in the MSP system. For the first time, the government has fixed uniform criteria for setting up cotton procurement centers, which include cotton production area, availability of APMC yard and at least one stock processing factory. As a result, 550 procurement centers have been set up in major cotton producing states across the country. Procurement of cotton under MSP will start from October 1 in North India, October 15 in Central India and October 21 in South India from 2025. This move will not only provide better market to the farmers but will also increase transparency and trust in the agriculture sector.
