A paddy season has officially begun — and this time, it starts with 3,100 procurement centres across the state. Chief Minister Vishnu Dev Sai launched Chhattisgarh's statewide paddy procurement drive for Kharif Marketing Year 2026-27 from Dharamjaigarh in Raigarh district on Sunday, 15 November 2026, signalling the opening of one of the state's most consequential annual agricultural operations.

The Chief Minister's Office announced the launch with a clear priority statement: 'Annadata ka samman, unki upaj ka uchit mulya aur kisanon ki samridhi' — 'Respect for the food-giver, a fair price for their produce, and farmers' prosperity' — framed as the defining commitment of what the government calls its 'good governance' approach.

3,100 Centres and a Digital Token System

The headline number this season is 3,100 procurement centres — an expansion from previous years, designed to bring the state's buying operations closer to farmers across Chhattisgarh's often remote rural terrain. Alongside the physical expansion, the state has integrated the Tuhar Token App, a digital platform that allows farmers to book online tokens for selling their paddy at government centres, cutting down on queue time and logistical uncertainty at peak season.

Authorities say every procurement centre this year has been equipped with an online token system and essential infrastructure to ensure farmers can sell their harvest without unnecessary delays. The combination of more centres and a digital booking layer continues a pattern the state has followed across recent Kharif seasons — each year adding capacity ahead of the marketing rush.

Why Dharamjaigarh, and What It Signals

Raigarh district, where Dharamjaigarh is located, sits in the northern belt of Chhattisgarh — a region with a significant rural farming population and a strong paddy-growing tradition. Choosing this location for the statewide launch is a deliberate political and administrative signal: that procurement this season will reach beyond the state's urban and semi-urban centres into its agricultural heartland.

Chhattisgarh has long positioned its annual Kharif paddy procurement at Minimum Support Price as a cornerstone of farmer income support. The scale of the operation — tens of thousands of farmers, millions of quintals of paddy, and payments routed directly to bank accounts — makes the efficiency of procurement centres and token management a matter of real consequence for rural households across the state.

How quickly payment reaches farmers after procurement, and whether all 3,100 centres operate at full capacity through the season, will be the real test of this year's expanded framework.