BHUBANESWAR: Paddy procurement has come to a halt in many parts of coastal districts as storage capacity of mandis (paddy procurement centres) are full to the brim since the millers have not lifted the stock. Reports coming in from districts such as Cuttack, Puri, Nayagarh, Jagatsingpur, and Kendrapara reveal that custom millers allowed to participate in procurement are not lifting paddy stock from identified mandis for the last two days under the pretext that they did not have storage capacity.
However, the fact remains that the millers do not want to lift the paddy due to heavy moisture content. With no storage facilities in many of the Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies (PACS), the principal agent of Odisha State Civil Supply Corporation for procurement, purchased paddy stocked in open are exposed to unseasonal rains.
“Apart from weight-related issues due to high moisture content, chances of the wet paddy getting discoloured are more. It will be a problem for the rice millers during delivery of rice to the Government or the central pool of Food Corporation of India (FCI),” a field staff of the Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare department in Cuttack said.
With many districts experiencing light rains in the last couple of days, the millers do not want to run the risk of storing wet paddy as the chances of sprouting are high. No one will come to their rescue, the sources said.
The farmers waiting to dispose of their paddy under the price support system are facing similar challenges as they do not have safe place to stock the harvest. A report from Narsinghpur block of Cuttack district said the PACS are refusing to purchase paddy until the existing stocks are procured by the custom millers.
Mandis refuse to buy paddy
The rice miller agents are reluctant to lift the paddy till the weather conditions improve. “Even as Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister RP Swain claimed to be taking regular feedbacks from the farmers under ‘Mo Sarkar’ initiative, he has never spoken to any farmer from our areas. We have no one here to approach and tell our problem,” said a farmer of Basantpur panchayat of Narsinghpur block.
Farmers who have brought their paddy to the paddy procurement centres (PPC) are in a dilemma as they have to pay the price for the moisture content of their stock. President of state unit of Samajwadi Party Rabi Behera has urged the Government to compensate the farmers for their damaged crops.