TFP Bureau, Raipur, December 15, 2025: The paddy procurement drive in Chhattisgarh is progressing smoothly and at a rapid pace under the leadership of Chief Minister Shri Vishnu Deo Sai, with officials reporting robust participation by farmers and timely payments at the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for the Kharif Marketing Year 2025–26.
According to the Agriculture Department, paddy is being procured at MSP as notified by the Government of India through 2,739 procurement centres functioning across the state. The procurement season commenced on November 15, 2025 and will continue until January 31, 2026. Clear instructions have been issued to ensure a hassle-free process for farmers, while strict vigilance is being maintained to prevent illegal transportation and sale of paddy.
Officials said that so far, 87 lakh tonnes of paddy have been procured through 17.24 lakh tokens generated for registered farmers. Against this procurement, an amount of Rs 7,771 crore has already been disbursed directly to farmers’ accounts as of December 11, 2025, ensuring liquidity and financial security for cultivators during the peak agricultural season.
Significantly, farmer participation has increased this year. For the Kharif Marketing Year 2025–26, paddy cultivation area of 34.39 lakh hectares belonging to 27.40 lakh farmers has been registered through the Integrated Farmer Portal and AgriStack Portal. In comparison, last year 25.49 lakh farmers sold paddy at MSP from a registered area of 28.76 lakh hectares. This reflects an increase of nearly 7.5 per cent in the number of registered farmers and a substantial 19 per cent rise in the registered area, indicating greater trust in the procurement system.
To ensure inclusivity, certain categories of farmers have been exempted from mandatory AgriStack registration. These include institutionally registered farmers, landless farmers such as Adhiya and Regha cultivators, farmers from low-lying areas, forest rights title holders, and village Kotwars holding government lease land. The registration process for eligible farmers is continuing.
The Chief Minister said that keeping farmers’ convenience as a priority, the state government has introduced a 24-hour token facility through the “Tuhar Token” mobile application. Farmers can now generate procurement tokens up to 20 days in advance, allowing better planning and reducing congestion at procurement centres.
To curb irregularities, the government has strengthened enforcement mechanisms. District-level special inspection teams comprising officials from the Revenue, Food, Cooperation, Forest and Mandi departments have been deployed to check illegal sale, storage and transportation of paddy. At the state level, a State Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) has been set up under MARKFED to monitor activities in real time.
So far, over 2,000 cases of illegal transportation and storage of paddy have been registered across the state, leading to the seizure of 1.93 lakh tonnes of illegally held paddy. Officials said these measures are aimed at safeguarding farmers’ interests and ensuring transparency and fairness in the procurement process.
