Farmers in Nabarangpur are selling their paddy in neighboring Chhattisgarh due to a higher minimum support price (MSP), causing difficulties for the local administration to meet its kharif procurement target. In Chhattisgarh, paddy is being sold at Rs 3,100 per quintal, compared to the MSP of Rs 2,183 per quintal in Odisha. A significant portion of Nabarangpur's paddy was sold in Chhattisgarh even before the commencement of procurement in the district. Mandis in Nabarangpur opened late on December 15 last year, leading to a decline in paddy supply to mandis across all 10 blocks of the district.
Nabarangpur received a target to procure 24 lakh quintal of paddy this kharif season. Of the 20 lakh quintal target in the first phase, only 11 lakh quintal was purchased by the end of January. In the previous kharif season, 21.547 lakh quintal of paddy were procured in the district by January end. The mandi at Nandahandi had a target of 1,300 quintal per week but procured only 400 quintal. Maidalpur mandi's target of 3,200 quintal per week saw only 1,300 quintal procured, and Nabarangpur mandi procured only 1,000 quintal against its 7,000 quintal target.
In Chandahandi block, six mandis were opened for paddy procurement, but two had to be closed due to lack of paddy. In the last week, farmers have not brought paddy to several mandis in the district. In the previous kharif season, a total of 23,67,392 quintal of paddy were purchased in Nabarangpur in two phases.
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