THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government has urged the Centre to revise the paddy procurement package and support price for paddy. Food and Civil Supplies Minister P Thilothaman and Agriculture Minister V S Sunil Kumar submitted a representation in this regard to Union Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan in New Delhi.
The state has also asked the Centre to increase the rice quota to the state and include pulses in the public distribution system. As much as five lakh tonnes of paddy are procured in the state at support price.
Under the Central paddy procurement scheme, 100 kg of paddy should yield 68 kg of rice.
Only on the basis of this condition can paddy be procured by providing support price and procurement, distribution costs. But mill owners in the state had complained that paddy grown in below-sea level farms and paddy fields which have a higher acidity level and atmospheric moisture do not yield 68 kg rice per 100 kg paddy. A government study revealed in such conditions, 100 kg of paddy yield only 64 kg.