TIRUCHY: With the open market price for paddy witnessing a drop due to the Covid-19 lockdown, farmers across the delta region are showing interest towards direct purchase centres (DPC) this season. Open for the first time this year on request, the summer season DPCs across Tiruchy district have already procured more than 6,300 metric tonnes of the crop.
Considered one of the most prosperous seasons in decades, nearly 2,500 hectares have been utilised for cultivating Navarai paddy (summer crop) in Tiruchy. The off-seasonal rainfall and prominent availability of water in irrigation tanks have aided farmers to successfully bring the crop till harvest stage.
With the price reportedly dropping to Rs 900 - 1100 per bag of paddy in the open market, Sitrarasu, the regional manager of the Civil Supplies department, said, "Usually all farmers would be selling their summer season paddy in the open market, thus during summer season no DPCs will be open in Tiruchy. But for the first time, on request from the farmers, as many as 16 DPCs have been opened in Tiruchy for procuring the crop. With the harvest season starting off, almost all the paddy from the Navarai season is being sold at the DPCs.”
With the rest of the Navarai crop cultivated in Uppiliapuram expected to be harvested within the next 15 days, another 8,600 metric tonnes of paddy is expected to be procured by second week of July, the regional manager added. This could help the Civil Supplies department achieve record high paddy procurement this marketing year.
Ramdoss, a farmer from Tiruchy, stated that owing to the prevailing lockdown most of the rice mills that usually purchase the paddy have lost their business. Thus many rice mills have refrained from purchasing paddy, leading to a drastic drop in prices in the open market. Considerably, the DPC offers more than 1,800 rupees per quintal, making farmers incline towards DPCs.