THANJAVUR : Farmers in Thanjavur district are getting a good price for paddy straw compared to last year as traders from other districts are procuring it amid fears of shortages in near future due to the prevailing El Nino conditions.
For farmers whose yield has come down due to heatwave conditions, the good price for straw came as a solace. Kuruvai paddy crop has been cultivated in around 64,800 hectares in Thanjavur district this year. This harvest is over in around 30,000 hectares according to officials of the Agriculture and Farmers Welfare department.
Traders who buy paddy straw from the delta districts are from Karur, Salem, Erode and Namakkal districts. The paddy straw is being used as cattle feed and also for mushroom cultivation.
Even as farmers in Tiruvaiyaru were reporting loss of yield due to the heatwave conditions, they also pointed out they are getting a good price for the paddy straw.
“The traders are giving Rs 120 per bundle of paddy straw. Last year the average price for the bundle were Rs 30 which even fell upto Rs 25,” says S Sivakumar of Manathidal village. The same situation prevails in neighbouring villages of Senthalai, Kandamangalam and Ammaiyagaram, he added.
Normally, farmers used to get 50-60 bundles of paddy straw per acre. The traders used to deploy the balers to make the paddy straw bundles in the field and they themselves arrange loading in mini trucks for transportation on their expense. “As the demand has been high, the traders are taking the paddy straw in one or two days after harvest. During previous years, the paddy straw used to lie in the field for weeks”, Sivakumar said. The situation in the Kumbakonam area is also the same.
“During the last few years, the paddy straw got drenched in rain and we could not get a decent price. This year, we are getting Rs 120 per bundle,” said M Nithyanandam, a farmer from Pattanam area near Kumbakonam.
T Murugesan, a farmer from Maruthuvakudi, who harvested his paddy crop 20 days earlier, said he got Rs 90 per bundle of the paddy straw. “I paid the rent for the harvesting machine using the income from the sales of paddy straw. Even after paying rent, I got some balance amount,” Murugesan added.