The Agriculture Department has set up a control room in the office of the Commissioner of Agriculture here to attend to problems faced at the field-level in the procurement of maize and paddy this season. The control room will function from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day.
Chairman of Rythu Bandhu Samithi Palla Rajeshwar Reddy stated on Tuesday that the problems brought to the notice of the officials manning the control room would take the matter to the notice of the officials concerned and pursue for their resolve. Farmers and field level officials facing problems in disposal and procurement of the produce could contact the control room on mobile number 7288894807 and 7288876545.
Speaking after holding a meeting with the officials manning the control room, from Agriculture, Marketing and Civil Supplies Departments and agencies such as Markfed and Rythu Bandhu Samithi, Mr. Reddy said the task of the control room would also include district-wise details of procurement centres, quantity of grain procured, extent of harvesting going on every day and pass it on to the State government.
The farming community could contact the control room on issues such as opening of procurement centres, need of harvesters and others.
Meanwhile, chairman of the Telangana State Civil Supplies Corporation Mareddy Srinivas Reddy reviewed the paddy procurement exercise on Tuesday and discussed on the steps to arrange gunny bags required for the purpose. He stated that about 20 crore gunny bags would be required to procure the paddy this season but there were problems in getting gunny bag supplies from West Bengal due to the COVID-19 lockdown.
Stating that there was no possibility of getting supplies from West Bengal soon, Mr. Reddy asked the officials to arrange for procurement of the bags locally, particularly from rice mills, ration (fair price) shop dealers and others. He also announced increase of price of the bags to be procured from ration dealers from ₹16 to ₹18 per bag. About 60 lakh gunny bags would be available with the ration dealers as 12 kg of rice per head was supplied for the month of April.
