The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Samba procurement normal

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Apr 03, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Samba procurement normal

By S. Vydhianathan

CHENNAI, APRIL 2. With samba harvest almost over, paddy procurement by the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC) has crossed the nine-lakh tonne mark.

The Corporation has purchased 9.15 lakh tonnes through its 855 direct purchase centres (DPCs), including about 8 lakh tonnes in the composite Thanjavur district, 60,000 tonnes in the remaining delta districts and 45,000 tonnes in other parts of the State.

Daily arrivals at the DPCs, which were of the order of 5,000 tonnes a few days ago, have come down to about 1,500 tonnes.

Thanjavur district has recorded a maximum of 3.25 lakh tonnes, followed by Tiruvarur with 3 lakh tonnes.

Low yield in Nagapattinam

Following heavy rain in November and the tsunami tragedy, Nagapattinam district has recorded a low yield, which is reflected in procurement. Normally, three lakh tonnes is purchased in Nagapattinam. This time it is only 1.67 lakh tonnes.

The Corporation may end up with 9.5 lakh tonnes by the end of the samba season, according to TNCSC sources.

After two years, the corporation has achieved its normal procurement in the samba season, thanks to a good monsoon and adequate supply from the Mettur reservoir.

In the last two seasons, the Corporation could purchase only less than five lakh tonnes. In the last season, about four lakh tonnes was purchased and in 2003, it was a mere 1.53 lakh tonnes.

Winnowing machines

The Corporation is planning to install winnowing machines in all DPCs in the delta districts at a cost of Rs. 2 crores from the next procurement season.

The sources said machines costing Rs. 25,000 each would be handed over to local self-help groups for maintenance. The groups could collect Re. 1 a bag from farmers for cleaning paddy. On an average, the group would get Rs. 800 a day. The Corporation would get quality paddy which, in turn, would improve rice out-turn. The move would not give room to complaints by farmers, who now suspected that DPC employees who had installed machines at the centres were making exorbitant collections.

The sources said the normal procurement would help the Corporation improve its rice stock for the public distribution system. Under the decentralised procurement system, it was serving as an agency for the Food Corporation of India.

The paddy stock, after conversion into rice, was adjusted against the Centre's monthly allotment to the State. So, the comfortable stock position with the TNCSC would help the FCI in restricting stock movement from the northern States to Tamil Nadu for its monthly allotment.

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