CHENNAI: Samba paddy procurement in the delta districts will be lower than what the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation estimated.

The procurement may be 12 lakh to 13 lakh tonnes against the projected 15 lakh tonnes according to corporation officials here. Till Tuesday, the corporation had purchased 7.3 lakh tonnes, including 43,000 tonnes in the non-delta districts, through 1,065 direct purchase centres. A maximum of 2.737 lakh tonnes was procured in Tiruvarur district, followed by Thanjavur with 2.26 lakh tonnes. As standing crop in 50 per cent of the cultivated area was destroyed in rain in Nagapattinam district, the arrival was not so heavy as in the other two districts. The corporation procured only 1.5 lakh tonnes.

With harvesting in full swing, the current arrival of 17,000 tonnes a day will continue till the last week of March. After that there will be a slump.

Good price

The officials said the procurement in the non-delta regions was considerable, thanks to the good price offered. While 12,000 tonnes was procured in Sivaganga district, it was 8,800 tonnes in Ramanathapuram. In Erode, where the procurement was negligible last year, 4,200 tonnes arrived this year.

The officials attributed the possible reduction in procurement this year to heavy purchase by private traders. Normally, private traders avoid purchasing the CR 1009 variety, though it has a good market in Kerala. The farmers have no option but to sell the variety to the corporation. But this year, private traders from Chennai made heavy purchase of the variety, offering Rs 30-Rs 40 a quintal more than the minimum support price of the corporation.

Quality good

The officials said the quality of paddy received was good. Farmers had cleaned it up before bringing it to the direct purchase centres.

To avoid inconvenience to farmers, vigilance teams were on tour to monitor the procurement. If complaints against the staff of direct purchase centres were found true, they would be suspended for 25 days. Stringent action against "erring officials" had a good impact.

The paddy procured was immediately moved to storage points in Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam districts.

Hulling

Hulling had started and orders had been issued to the registered hulling agents of the Corporation for one lakh tonnes, the officials said.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail