HYDERABAD: The procurement of paddy for Rabi season started in Telangana with 713 purchasing centres out of the total 7,077 proposed for the State kicking off operations on Thursday. The paddy purchasing centres were started at Kamareddy, Suryapet, Khammam and Nalgonda districts. “The harvest will pick up next week onwards.
More purchasing centres will be opened as and when paddy stocks reach markets,” Civil Supplies Minister Gangula Kamalakar said. Holding a review meeting on paddy procurement along with Agriculture Minister Singireddy Niranjan Reddy and Civil Supplies Corporation Chairman M Srinivas Reddy, Kamalakar directed officials to maintain hygiene at purchasing centres.
The Ministers felt that there was a need to carry out a study to improve the capacity of rice millers in Telangana. The rice milling industry should be augmented further as the State’s paddy production was poised to increase further, the said. They stressed the need for setting up of food processing units.