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Govt promises to buy entire paddy from Punjab
New Delhi, Oct 11: Agriculture minister Nitish Kumar said on Wednesday that the government was committed to procuring the entire quantity of paddy from the mandies of Punjab and other parts of the country, if prices fall below the minimum support price (MSP).On the problems faced by the Punjab farmers following the low market price and procurement agency, FCI's reported refusal to accept paddy on account of poor quality, Mr Kumar said, "the government is duty bound to procure paddy if prices fall below the MSP." The minister added, "The system of procurement should be there. But, there was a need to improve the mechanism." The agriculture ministry would intervene if farmers face problems the minister said while speaking at a seminar held on Disaster Management. A senior agriculture ministry official said, the government would not relax the quality norms while procuring grains including paddy and soyabean. Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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