The Uttar Pradesh government is set to commence paddy procurement for the current marketing season starting October 1. This year, the procurement process will be enhanced with new technological measures designed to improve efficiency, transparency, and fairness in transactions with farmers and the allocation of paddy to rice mills. The target for paddy procurement is expected to be around 70 lakh metric tonnes (LMT), although the state fell short of this target last year. The new procurement policy is anticipated to receive Cabinet approval soon. Principal Secretary of Food and Civil Supplies, Alok Kumar, stated that the government aims to reduce human intervention by implementing technology at various stages to ensure better efficiency and transparency. This includes fair allocation of paddy to 1,820 rice mills based on their capacity and performance. Procurement centers will be equipped with internet connectivity, computers, laptops, iPads, and e-pop machines to facilitate smooth operations. Farmer registration is already in progress, with approximately 950 farmers having signed up to sell their paddy to the government at the Minimum Support Price (MSP) set by the Centre�₹2,300 per quintal for standard paddy and ₹2,320 per quintal for grade-A paddy. The procurement target for this year is likely to be set at 70 LMT. Last year, the government managed to procure only 53.79 lakh MT of paddy worth ₹11,745 crore from 8 lakh farmers, falling short of the 70 lakh MT target. Procurement will begin in western Uttar Pradesh from October 1 and in eastern Uttar Pradesh from November 1.