New Delhi, Mar 14 (IANS): A quantity of 731.53 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of paddy has been procured in the Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2021-22, up to March 13, with about 103.40 lakh farmers benefitted with at minimum support price (MSP) value of Rs 1,43,380.03 crore, the Centre said on Monday.

The paddy procurement is progressing smoothly in the KMS 2021-22 at MSP in the procuring states/UTs of Chandigarh, Gujarat, Assam, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Telangana, Rajasthan, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, West Bengal, Tripura, Bihar, Odisha, Maharashtra, Puducherry, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, a statement from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution said.

The top states from where the maximum paddy procurement in terms of volumes was done comprise Punjab (1,86,85,532 MTs) followed by Chhattisgarh (92,01,000 MTs), Telangana (70,22,000 MTs), Uttar Pradesh (65,53,029 MTs), and Odisha (55,74,670 MTs).

The top states that procured paddy from where maximum number of farmers benefited include Chhattisgarh (21,05,972) followed by Odisha (12,45,961), Telangana (10,62,428), Uttar Pradesh (9,47,326), and Punjab (9,24,299), the release said.