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Current goal in sight, UP urges Centre to raise paddy procurement bar
UP govt has already purchased around 58 LMT of paddy against the target of 60 LMT even as the procurement in eastern UP will continue for a month
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Unlike wheat where Uttar Pradesh has struggled to meet procurement targets in recent years, the state has continued its robust performance in paddy procurement, nearly achieving the target for the current marketing season prompting the government to request the Centre to raise the target to 66 lakh metric tonnes.
While the paddy procurement has ended in western UP, it will continue in eastern UP till February end. “Considering the fact, we have already purchased around 58 LMT of paddy against the target of 60 LMT even as the procurement in eastern UP will continue for a month, we have requested the Centre to raise the target by additional 6 LMT,” principal secretary, food and civil supplies, UP, Ranvir Prasad said.
Official data show that total paddy procurement during the current Kharif marketing season (KMS) 2025-26 as on Wednesday was 56.89 LMT which was higher than 52.66 LMT recorded during the corresponding period of KMS 2024–25.
“Farmer participation has increased significantly, with 9.30 lakh farmers benefiting from procurement operations this season so far, up from 7.29 lakh farmers in KMS 2024–25. Around two lakh more farmers have sold their paddy to the government so far compared to corresponding period of the previous year,” Prasad added.
On the payment front, the total amount payable to farmers stands at Rs13,593.95 crore, higher than Rs12,218.51 crore last year. Of this, ₹13,076.17 crore has already been released, leaving a balance of ₹517.78 crore, compared to ₹388.91 crore pending during the previous season. To support procurement operations, the state, according to Prasad, is running 4,868 procurement centres—an increase from 4,372 centres last year—during KMS 2025-26.
However, for the past several years, Uttar Pradesh has been struggling to achieve the wheat procurement targets. This is attributed to the market rate of wheat being higher than the MSP because of which most farmers are preferring to sell wheat to private merchants. Uttar Pradesh, like all other states, purchases wheat and paddy at the MSP for the Central pool meant to fulfil the requirement of the public distribution system.
