MADURAI: The Tamil Nadu civil supplies department has submitted proposals for setting up of 150 Direct Procurement Centres (DPCs) amid the Samba crops reaching the maturing stage in the district. The state government has fixed a target of 2.1 lakh tonnes for paddy procurement in the Kharif Marketing Season (KMS). As the irrigation woes of farmers in Madurai have been resolved by timely rainfall, more than 40,000 hectares of land have been used for the Samba paddy cultivation season and the Thaladi paddy cultivation season in Madurai. Notably, the harvest season would begin in late December or January in the district.
Following approval, the DPCs will be opened for procuring the Samba paddy and the department has planned to increase monitoring across the district to prevent issues in paddy procurement this season. A senior official from the civil supplies department said the KMS of paddy procurement by the civil supplies department starts on October 1 and ends on September 30 next year. "During the 2021 - 2022 Kharif marketing season the total procurement was 1.3 lakhs metric tonnes. This year, the target for 2022 - 2023 KMS has been set at 2.1 lakhs metric tonnes. Considering the availability of water, farmers are likely to be involved in consecutive cultivation seasons this year. The DPCs will ensure farmers get a profitable price for the paddy," he added.