Andhra Pradesh government will purchase Kharif paddy till March

Kakinada: Civil Supplies Department Commissioner H. Arunkumar said the government will procure rice in the current Kharif season till March and farmers will not have to worry about their crops. Kumar, along with officials, inspected Rythu Bharosa centers in Kokkirapadu and Vatluru Pedapadu mandals and visited rice fields at Sitaramapuram village in Eluru district on Friday. Said that the state government is taking all measures to guarantee that farmers do not suffer losses due to the cyclonic storm and rains and “they will purchase every bag of rice”. Kumar said that the government has started purchasing rice including husk from November to save the farmers from inconvenience. The government set a target of purchasing 37 lakh metric tons. However, there is no limit on the purchase of rice by farmers. He said, during the last two days they purchased 1.10 lakh metric tonnes of rice. “The government had alerted farmers about the cyclone two days in advance. Now they are asking rice millers to understand the rice outside the line.”