MADURAI: With the 2022-23 Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) set to conclude in September, the annual procurement target has fallen short for all three seasons (kuruvai, summer, and samba) in the district.
The department has ramped up measures to improve procurement through DPC ahead of the next KMS. Currently, five DPCs are operational in Madurai to procure summer season paddy.
The KMS of paddy procurement usually commences on October 1 and concludes on September 30. Official sources said irrigation woes have caused the first crop (kuruvai) season acreage has drop to around 1,200 hectares in Madurai while over 9,000 hectares were used for the season a year ago. A drop in the acreage has led to a drop in procurement, they added.
According to the civil supplies department, more than 86,000 tonnes of paddy out of the targeted one lakh tonne have been procured for the samba season. For summer crops, about 6,600 tonnes of the targeted 10,000 tonnes have been procured.
During the 2021 - 2022 KMS, the total procurement was 1.3 lakh tonnes in Madurai. Official sources said the kuruvai season paddy procurement would commence by September to October in Madurai. Though the total procurement is likely to cross one lakh hectares, it could still be lesser compared with the previous year.