The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Good rapport between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka rice millers

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jul 10, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Good rapport between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka rice millers

By S. Vydhianathan

CHENNAI, JULY 9. Though the Tamil Nadu and Karnataka Governments are at loggerheads over sharing of the Cauvery water a congenial atmosphere prevails among paddy and rice millers and traders of the two States.

With a bumper paddy harvest in the last season, millers and traders of Karnataka are depending on Tamil Nadu for marketing their products.

Thanks to the single food zone, wholesale rice traders in the city are getting at least 150 lorry loads of "raw" rice while those in Erode, Coimbatore and Salem districts are receiving 200 lorries of paddy and 100 lorries of rice daily.

At present, three Karnataka varieties — deluxe, sona and emergency — are popular among traders here. They look similar to Tamil Nadu's "Ponni" and branded as such by the traders here. Many supermarkets are selling these varieties at Rs. 18 a kg and the response from consumers is very good, according to wholesale traders.

A wholesaler at Red Hills said but for the heavy arrivals from Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, there would have been acute rice scarcity in Tamil Nadu. Not only the price is stable at Rs. 18 a kg, but also availability is also good. Even the best-seasoned rice variety is being sold at Rs. 19 a kg.

According to K.S. Jagadesan of the Tamil Nadu Rice Mill Owners and Paddy-Rice Merchants Associations, not less than 200 lorry loads of paddy are arriving daily in Erode, Salem and Coimbatore districts. Apart from paddy, these districts are witnessing heavy arrival of rice from Karnataka. On an average the market is receiving 100 lorry loads every day.

Mr. Jagadesan said many mills in Tamil Nadu would have closed down but for the Karnataka paddy arrivals. As the State has been witnessing drought for the last two years, the only source of supply for the mills here is from Karnataka. He said earlier the Karnataka millers were moving only paddy, as they did not know the processing technique. But they had also learnt the technique and were moving processed rice. Mostly single-boiled rice was being moved to the State, which had a good market here, he said.

Andhra Pradesh is another traditional source of supply to Tamil Nadu. The daily arrival ranges from 150 to 200 lorry loads, mostly the sona variety. In the rice traders' parlance, the market is down with little possibility of any increase in price in the near future. Even at this price, sales were not encouraging. Apart from huge stocks, liberalisation of rice supply in the public distribution system (PDS) affected the sale. Middle and lower middle income families, which were earlier not eligible for PDS, were now getting 20 kg of rice every month. This had also affected the trade, they said.

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