New Delhi, Oct 18 (IANS): The government on Monday said that over 56.62 lakh metric tonnes of paddy has been procured in the Kharif Marketing Season 2021-22 up to October 17.

The KMS 2021-22, at the minimum support price (MSP), commenced recently and has benefitted 3,71,919 farmers with MSP value of Rs 11,099.25 crore, an official statement said.

The procurement took place in states and UTs of Chandigarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.

The government had earlier declared October 11 as the date for starting procurement under MSP for Haryana and Punjab. However, after a hue and cry from the farmers, the date was brought earlier and the procurement started on October 1.

The government claimed it has digitised land records and the names of the farmers, owners and tillers both, and also put in place a procedure to book dates for bringing in paddy for procurement under the MSP. It also claimed that it has put in place a system that pays the farmers directly the MSP price into their bank accounts and the commission, wherever due, is diverted to the trader's account.