New Delhi, Sep 27 (IANS): The National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), the apex financing organisation of the Union Agriculture Ministry, has sanctioned as first tranche, funds amounting to Rs 19,444 crore to the states of Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Telangana for kharif paddy procurement in 2020-21 under Minimum Support Price (MSP) operations, said the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare on Sunday in a statement.

These amounts have been sanctioned to assist the states/State Marketing Federations in undertaking paddy procurement operations in a timely manner through their respective cooperative organisations. Chhattisgarh gets the highest amount to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore, as per the statement. Haryana has been sanctioned Rs 5,444 crore and Telangana Rs 5,500 crore.

This proactive step by NCDC during the COVID pandemic will give the much needed financial support to farmers of these three states who account for nearly 75 per cent of production of paddy in the country, said the ministry.

The timely step will help the state agencies start procurement operations immediately, said the statement. It will provide the much needed support to farmers to sell their produce at the government notified minimum support price, said the ministry.

Managing Director, NCDC, Sundeep Nayak said that in response to the clarion call given by the Prime Minister, NCDC was ready to assist more states in carrying out MSP operations for giving fair value to farmers in the light of historic farm-related legislations, as per the statement.