MADURAI: As the Samba season inches towards a close, harvesting activities have commenced in several parts of the district. Though the measures by the state government to promote traditional paddy varieties had brought many farmers on board, the lack of a proper platform to sell the produce has left them in the lurch.
The timely arrival of Vaigai water and copious rainfall ensured bumper yield in the district this season. Officials from the agriculture marketing department said some farmers had brought their traditional paddy produce such as Maplai Samba, Karuppu Kavuni and Vaigai Kondan to the regulatory markets for sale.
"Following a series of promotion campaigns by the government, many farmers got involved in traditional paddy cultivation. However, this sudden increase in supply has adversely affected the demand this season. Karupu Kavuni rice, which cost nearly Rs 200 earlier, now goes for Rs 100 and even then it has fewer takers. Last year's produce is still wasting away at storage facilities, and we have to now begin this year's harvest process. Lack of a proper selling platform is really hurting us," said Arun, a traditional paddy farmer from Madurai. He urged the state government to launch a sale mechanism at the earliest and undertake paddy procurement through the Farmers Producer Organisations (FPOs).
Another issue distressing the farmers is the great effort required to safeguard the harvested paddy from pest attacks as it was completely cultivated using organic methods. Gopal, a farmer from Melavalavu in Madurai, said, "Madurai district has no processing centre for traditional paddy. We have to take our produce to the facilities in Pudukkottai or Theni for processing our paddy into rice. The government should open such a facility in Madurai at the earliest. Some farmers have also begun to use social media platforms for selling paddy."
M Raman, a farmer and a functionary of Mullai Periyar Farmers Association, suggested that the authorities could procure the paddy and sell it through the fair price shops. "Considering the traditional paddy's medicinal and nutritional values, it could also be used for the noon meal schemes at schools. The farmers would have greatly benefitted even if a small portion of the rice was included in the Pongal gift hampers," he added. The farmers lament that despite submitting several petitions to authorities in this regard, their grievances remain unaddressed.
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