Procurement benefits 14 million farmers as MSP payouts cross Rs 16,600 crore during 2025–26 kharif season

Telangana has achieved its highest-ever paddy procurement, purchasing 70.82 lakh tonnes during the 2025–26 kharif marketing season, surpassing the previous record of 70.2 lakh tonnes set in 2020–21, the state government said on Tuesday.

Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy described the achievement as a major milestone, noting that the procurement drive benefited nearly 14 million farmers across the state.

The government disbursed Rs 16,606 crore toward the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for procured paddy, in addition to a Rs 1,425 crore bonus paid to farmers, primarily those cultivating fine varieties.

Sankranti Boost for Farmers

Calling the record procurement a Sankranti bonanza, the minister said the initiative reflects the state’s focus on farmer welfare and agricultural stability. On the eve of the festival, the Civil Supplies Department released Rs 500 crore toward bonus payments, crediting funds directly into farmers’ bank accounts at the direction of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy. With this tranche, total bonus payments reached Rs 1,429 crore.

Of the total paddy procured, 38.37 lakh tonnes were fine variety paddy, while 32.45 lakh tonnes were coarse. Farmers growing fine paddy received a bonus of Rs 500 per quintal, the minister said.

Infrastructure and Production Growth

To support procurement operations, the state established 8,342 paddy procurement centres across Telangana, covering crops grown over 66.8 lakh acres. Of these, 4,259 centres were operated through Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies, 3,517 through IKP centres, and 566 through other agencies.

The procurement milestone follows another record for the state. In October 2025, the government announced that Telangana achieved an all-time high paddy production of 148.03 lakh tonnes during the kharif season, which it described as the highest production recorded by any Indian state.

Officials attributed the growth to policy support for agriculture and close coordination between the government and farming communities.