PALAKKAD: After a long tussle, private mill owners have finally decided to procure paddy from the farmers in the state from Friday. This follows a meeting chaired by Food and Civil Supplies Minister G R Anil at the Ernakulam Guest House which was attended by the Supplyco director and general manager, other officials and office-bearers of the Kerala Rice Mill Owners Association (KRMOA) on Thursday.
The KRMOA was represented by its state president K K Karnan and general secretary Varkey Peter, among others. Varkey Peter told TNIE that the government side heard their demands sympathetically and said that since there were legal issues involved, they would be addressed in due course.
He said that the mill owners were told that since the farmers have no place to store the harvested paddy, it has been kept in the open and that they would suffer huge losses due to the rain. “Therefore, we have decided to sign a conditional agreement for three months instead of the usual one year,” said Peter.
The private mill owners’ decision to procure paddy will bring a great relief to the thousands of small and marginal paddy farmers in the state. The mill owners will demand huge discounts if the moisture content in paddy is above the permissible limit of 17%. Moreover, the paddy which germinates will not be procured. As many farmers do not have storage place, they will have to suffer losses on this count also. Though the procurement price has not been announced, it is felt that paddy will be procured by Supplyco at Rs 28.20 per kilogram and 12 paise per kg would be provided as loading charges, said Muthalamthode Mani, general secretary of the Desiya Karshaka Sangham.
Every year, the mill owners used to delay procurement by nearly a month and begin it only by the fag end of September. This is the first time that the procurement has been delayed till the last week of October, said farmers. Peter said the mill owners’ demand to release Rs 15 crore by Supplyco which was due as handling charges of the paddy damaged in the 2018 flood.
The government said the State Disaster Management Authority will take a decision on this and a meeting will be convened in this regard soon. On the issue of the out-turn of rice which had been raised to 68% by the court, government officials said they have filed a review petition and they have limitations on this issue. Similarly, on the mill owners’ demand to raise the handling charges, it was decided to convene a meeting within a month and take a decision. As the agreement has been inked for three months, the fate of the second crop of paddy of the farmers will again remain a question mark till these issues are resolved.