Bhubaneswar, Nov 10 (UDN): The Odisha government has set an ambitious target of procuring around 78 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of paddy from farmers during the Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2026-27, following the state Cabinet’s approval of the Food and Paddy Procurement Policy.
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The policy was among 13 proposals approved at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Monday. The procurement plan aims to ensure remunerative prices for farmers, streamline the procurement process and maintain an uninterrupted supply of rice for public distribution and other welfare programmes.
Under the approved policy, the government aims to procure 78 LMT of paddy, equivalent to approximately 53 LMT of rice. Farmers will receive ₹3,100 per quintal, inclusive of the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and additional input assistance.
A key focus of the policy is to make paddy procurement more transparent, technology-driven and farmer-friendly. For this purpose, the government will integrate the Paddy Procurement Automation System (P-PAS) with Aadhaar-based e-KYC, Bhulekh land records and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) platform.
The registration process will also involve 100 per cent field verification of farmers, along with satellite-based assessment of cultivated areas supported by Digital Crop Survey (DCS) data.
In a significant step towards inclusive procurement, eligible sharecroppers, locally known as Bhaga Chasis, will also be allowed to register and sell their produce through digital consent and biometric or mobile-based authentication of landowners.
To ensure timely payments, the procurement policy provides for direct transfer of the MSP amount to farmers’ Aadhaar-linked bank accounts through NPCI within 24 to 48 hours of procurement.
Procurement operations will be conducted through designated Paddy Procurement Centres (PPCs) managed by Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS), Large Area Multi-Purpose Cooperative Societies (LAMPCS) and Pani Panchayats. Farmers will receive advance SMS notifications in Odia about their procurement schedules and the quantities to be sold.
The government has also proposed several quality-control and monitoring measures, including Fair Average Quality (FAQ) testing, AI-enabled grain analysers at procurement centres handling more than 5,000 metric tonnes, CCTV surveillance and real-time monitoring.
To improve operational efficiency, mill tagging and route optimisation will be introduced to facilitate timely milling and minimise transportation costs.
For grievance redressal, district-level control rooms and a toll-free helpline (1967) will be made available to farmers. The state will also strengthen border checkpoints and CCTV surveillance to prevent unauthorised paddy inflow from neighbouring states.
The Kharif paddy procurement season will run from November 1, 2026, to March 31, 2027.
The government said the policy is aimed at ensuring that every eligible farmer gets an opportunity to sell marketable surplus paddy at the assured price without facing procedural hurdles or payment delays.
Besides meeting the state’s requirements under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), State Food Security Scheme (SFSS) and other welfare programmes, surplus rice procured during the season will be supplied to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) for inclusion in the Central Pool.