Summary:
A minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 1,550 was fixed for a quintal of paddy, he added.“The procurement of discolored paddy by the civil supplies department will begin in February,” Rao added. In Visakhapatnam district, a total 1303 hectares of crops were damaged.Speaking to TOI, Rao said the paddy was close to being harvested at the time when the cyclone made landfall.Rao said that civil supplies department came forward to purchase the discolored paddy from the farmers. An official from civil supplies department said that they would start notifying the paddy purchasing centres in eight districts after Republic Day.Another agriculture officer from East Godavari district said that farmers get compensation for crop damage in two ways. Visakhapatnam: Government procurement of discoloured paddy will begin in February, said district agriculture department joint director A Mallikharjuna Rao on Tuesday.A total 68,543 hectares of crops were damaged across the 13 districts in Andhra Pradesh due to Cyclone Phethai in December, according to state agriculture department officials. The cyclone made landfall near Kakinada coast in East Godavari district.The share of paddy in the total crop damage was 56,024 hectares, while commercial crops like tobacco, maize, cotton, groundnut, sunflower and sugar accounted for 12,519 hectares, the officials said on Tuesday.Much of the total crop damage — 35,593 hectares — was reported from Guntur district while the damage was lesser in Srikakulam district, with only 369 hectares..