<span style="color: #222222;">In the ongoing Kharif Marketing Season (KMS), the government has procured 13.51 percent  more paddy so far in comparison to corresponding period last year. </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">It has purchased over 684 Lakh Metric Tonnes of paddy till yesterday against corresponding purchase of over 602 Lakh Metric Tonnes last year.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Out of the total purchase of  over 684 Lakh Metric Tonnes, Punjab alone has contributed  around  203 Lakh Metric Tonnes.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The Government continues to procure Kharif 2020-21 crops at MSP from farmers as per existing MSP Schemes, as was done in previous seasons.  Over 100 lakh farmers have already been benefited from the ongoing KMS procurement Operations with MSP value of  over 1.29 lakh Crore rupees.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Paddy procurement for Kharif 2020-21 is continuing smoothly in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Chandigarh, Jammu and  Kashmir, Kerala, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, Karnataka, West Bengal and Tripura.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The  Centre  through its Nodal Agencies has procured  over 3.49 lakh MT of Moong, Urad, Tur, Gram, Groundnut Pods and Soyabean having MSP value of  over 1,870 crore rupees.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">It has  benefited around two lakh  farmers in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan under Kharif 2020-21 and  Rabi 2021.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Similarly, 5089 MT of copra having MSP value of  over 52 crore rupees has been procured benefiting 3961 farmers in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu  till yesterday.</span><br />''