Tamil Nadu - Nagapattinam   

Government losing out to traders

NAGAPATTINAM: The Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC) is yet to get supplies of short-term kuruvai paddy from farmers in the Cauvery delta region of Nagapattinam district although it has opened 20 direct purchase centres (DPCs) for the purpose from the beginning of this month in Mayiladuturai.

A cross-section of farmers told The Hindu on Thursday that they were getting a good price for the kuruvai paddy from private traders, who were offering Rs.70 to 80 more per quintal than the government price. Also, the traders were p rocuring the paddy at their doorstep or at their fields immediately after the harvest. They did not have to incur the transport cost for selling the paddy at the DPCs.

While the TNCSC offered Rs.650 per quintal, including Rs.40 for Grade A paddy variety and Rs.620 per quintal for common variety, private traders and merchants offered about Rs.70 to Rs.80 per quintal more than the government price, the said. The traders also disbursed the cash immediately.

A agriculture department official said the kuruvai paddy was cultivated only in about 25,000 hectares this year against the normal cultivation area of 35,000 hectares due to non-availability of Mettur water for irrigation on the scheduled date of June 12.

The kuruvai crop was raised only by farmers in Mayiladuturai belt coming under the Cauvery division command area with the help of pump sets well in advance without awaiting the release of Mettur water for irrigation.

The official said harvest of this early planted kuruvai paddy crop was picking up and was over in about 30 per cent of the area. Many farmers achieved a good yield of about six tonnes of paddy per hectare.

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

Stories in this Section

Government losing out to traders

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu