Giving solace to the farmers, the Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation (Supplyco) has finally managed to take off the procurement of paddy after harvest.
Despite high yields, the farmers were left in lurch owing to the delay in procurement of the crop by the Supplyco. The harvest was over by the second week of March in most of the fields in Upper Kuttanad.
The officials have pointed out mass harvesting in this season as the reason for the delay. The fields in Upper Kuttanad witnessed above-normal yields this season, with some farmers reporting 7.5 tonnes per hectare. The delay in procurement had led to apprehensions among farmers about their yields getting ruined in untimely rains.
“Here, we do not have a strong open market for paddy produced here. Without the timely procurement of the produce, the domestic markets will crash causing great loss for a farmer. It requires a capital of nearly `30,000 per acre for farming alone. Then, there is the additional cost of harvesting and storing the produce, as small-scale farmers do not own godowns. It is not profitable to take up cultivation anymore without the government giving any assurance,” said Suresh Babu, a farmer.
The procurement is done directly from farmers at the minimum support price declared by the government. The Cabinet had decided to hike the procurement price for paddy from `18 to `19 a kg, earlier this month.
The one-rupee hike was made applicable for paddy already procured during the current season, for which payments have not been made, also. The Centre has been offering a procurement price of `13.10 a kg for paddy. The current state subsidy for procuring paddy has been increased from `4.90 to `5.90. In the current season, the Supplyco has procured as much as 70,000 tonnes of paddy. The procurement price of `19 per kg is reportedly the highest in the country for paddy.
The procured paddy is handed over to rice mills, with which Supplyco has enetered into contract, and the resultant rice is distributed through PDS.