Paddy harvest begins in Kerala, but farmers upset
PALAKKAD: Though the harvesting of paddy has begun, the state government is yet to announce the procurement of paddy which has caused concern among farmers. While 79,225 paddy farmers have registered with Supplyco for the 2022-23 season, private mill owners have not signed the agreement. The last date for signing the agreement was August 30.
They demand that the compensation for the losses suffered during the 2018 flood when water entered the godowns of Kalady rice mills must be given by the government first. They are also not ready to provide 68% of the paddy procured as rice after processing to the government.
“We have sent a memorandum to the ministers of agriculture and food and civil supplies urging the government to announce and speed up the procurement. While harvesting of the first crop of paddy has started, the mill owners are playing truant and coming up with lame excuses. This has been their practice for many years. The government also colludes with the private mill owners and ration dealers. Delaying the announcement of the procurement will force the paddy farmers to sell their produce at Rs 16 to Rs 18 per kilogram to the same mill owners instead of the procurement price of Rs 28.20 announced this season,” said Muthalamthode Mani, state general secretary of Desiya Karshaka Samajam.
The Kerala High court has directed the mill owners to supply 68% of the paddy procured as rice back to the government, which has also led to the delay in procurement. The state government has appealed the verdict in the Supreme court.
“Of the 79,225 farmers who have registered for procurement for the 2022-23 season, 55,269 are from Palakkad,” said Local Self-Government Minister M B Rajesh. He claimed that Kerala is giving a procurement price of Rs 28.20 per kg of paddy while Tamil Nadu is offering only Rs 21 to its farmers.
However, Mani says that as per the national norm, 68% of the paddy procured should be processed by the mill owners and returned to the government as rice which, in turn, will be distributed through the ration shops in the state. However, in the last few years due to constant lobbying by the mill owners, the state government had unilaterally reduced the rice output to be provided from 68% to 64% which has now been annulled by the HC.
The next online meeting od the secretaries of the food and civil supplies with the mill owners is scheduled to be held on September 22.Mani points out that many farmers do not have places to store the harvested paddy. They have kept the paddy in sacks in the fields themselves. If it rains, all these will become moist and start germinating. Supplyco will not lift paddy which has excess moisture. Therefore, the farmers will be forced to sell their yields at distress rates.
On average, the paddy farmers will get an output of 2,200kg per acre. At the Supplyco rate of Rs 28.20per kg, the farmer will get Rs 62,040. At the same time, if he sells it at a distress rate of Rs 18 per kg, he will be getting just Rs 39,600 -- a loss of Rs 22,440 per acre.