Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI: The Assam government has set a target of procuring 8.49 lakh metric tonnes (MT) of paddy during the first crop of the Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2026-27, marking an increase over the targets fixed in the previous three seasons.
Procurement will begin on November 1, 2026, and continue until May 31, 2027.
The procurement target for the first crop of KMS 2026-27 is higher than the 8 lakh MT fixed for 2025-26, the 8,01,082 MT set for 2024-25 and the 6,53,700 MT fixed for 2023-24.
According to a notification issued by the Food, Public Distribution and Consumer Affairs Department, the state government has designated 181 Paddy Procurement Centres (PPCs) across Assam's 35 districts. Of these, 169 centres will be operated by the Assam Food and Civil Supplies Corporation Limited (AFCSCL), with a procurement target of 8,30,800 MT, while the Food Corporation of India (FCI) will operate 12 centres with a target of 18,200 MT.
Another notable feature of this year's procurement exercise is that only two agencies, AFCSCL and FCI, will participate. In the previous season, four agencies-AFCSCL, FCI, the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) and the Assam State Agricultural Marketing Board (ASAMB)-were involved in paddy procurement.
Among the districts, Hojai has been assigned the highest procurement target of 89,000 MT, followed by Darrang at 87,000 MT and Nagaon at 67,000 MT. Udalguri has been allocated 58,000 MT, Morigaon 53,000 MT and Karbi Anglong 47,000 MT.
Dhubri has been assigned a target of 46,000 MT, followed by Sonitpur at 42,000 MT and Goalpara at 41,000 MT. Barpeta has a target of 34,500 MT, while Nalbari has been allocated 27,000 MT.
Kamrup Metropolitan and Biswanath have been assigned targets of 24,000 MT each, while Kamrup has a target of 23,000 MT. Bajali has been allocated 22,000 MT, Baksa 21,000 MT, Chirang and Golaghat 18,000 MT each, Kokrajhar 17,000 MT and Bongaigaon 16,000 MT.
The targets in the remaining districts range from 100 MT in Dima Hasao to 10,000 MT each in Tamulpur, Lakhimpur and Dhemaji. South Salmara-Mankachar has been assigned 600 MT, Charaideo 1,000 MT and Majuli 1,300 MT.
The notification also specifies the designated procurement centres and their respective targets. The arrangement is intended to facilitate the procurement of paddy from farmers through designated centres across the state during the Kharif season.
The milling of procured paddy and delivery of Custom Milled Rice (CMR) to the FCI will be permitted until September 30, 2027, according to the notification published in the Assam Gazette Extraordinary.
For KMS 2026-27, the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for paddy has been increased by Rs 72 per quintal from the previous season. It has been fixed at Rs 2,441 per quintal for Common paddy and Rs 2,461 per quintal for Grade A paddy.
MSP for paddy for the 2025-26 KMS was Rs 2,369 per quintal for Common paddy and Rs 2,389 per quintal for Grade 'A' paddy.
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