Aizawl, February 25 Mizoram's Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare, PC Vanlalruata, told the assembly on Wednesday that a budget of 150 crore will be allocated in the 2026-27 budget for the procurement of five key crops under a flagship scheme.
Chief Minister Lalduhoma, who also holds the finance portfolio, will present the state's budget for the 2026-27 financial year on Thursday.
Vanlalruata said that the government has decided to continue procuring locally produced crops – ginger, chili, dry broomsticks, turmeric, and paddy – during the next financial year.
He announced that the government has started the process of procuring ginger and other key crops from February 2.
"Our goal is to help farmers sell their crops at reasonable prices. We hope that they will find buyers to sell their ginger at a price of more than Rs 50 per kg," Vanlalruata said.
If farmers sell below Rs 50 per kg, the government will provide the remaining amount as a support price to bring the price up to Rs 50 per kg.
Last week, Vanlalruata had informed the assembly that the state government incurred a loss of Rs 128.38 crore in ginger procurement during the 2024-25 fiscal.
An amount of Rs 141.16 crore was released to ginger growers as a support price, while only Rs 12.78 crore has been recovered or realized from ginger sales in 2024-25, the minister said.
The Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) government, headed by Lalduhoma, has been purchasing five key crops – ginger, turmeric, broomsticks, chili, and paddy – locally grown by farmers, through a support price system, fulfilling its pre-poll promises.