DHARMAPURI: Even with the government opening one Direct Procurement Centre (DPC) each in Dharmapuri, Pennagaram and Harur, only 75.3 tonnes of ragi was collected in January. According to sources, at least 931 tonnes are required per month in order to supply two kg of ragi to over 4.67 lakh PDS card holders in the district.
Farmers blame the poor procurement on the poor timing of opening the DPCs. Also, farmers are facing difficulties in complying with the procurement standards. President of Tamilaga Vivasayigal Sangam, SA Chinnasamy said, “The project was introduced by the government of India as part of the ‘International Year of Millets’.
Dharmapuri is one of the few districts in Tamil Nadu that has been selected to pilot the initiative to distribute 2 kg of ragi instead of rice. Coupled with the high production of ragi in the district the scheme was apt in the district. However procurement has been low due to the untimely opening. Had the DPC been opened in October after the Kharif season there would have been more procurement.”
He added, “The delayed opening of DPC in December forced farmers to sell to private players in the open market. The centre decides when to open DPC and they don’t understand the right period for procurement. We can only hope that at least the next procurement period will be apt and farmers could reap the benefits.”
P Murugan, a farmer from Palacode, said, “Since the opening of the DPC, the price of ragi in the private market has increased. In 2022, the price was Rs 20-Rs 23 per kg, but after the DPC announced its prices at Rs 35.78 last year, the prices in the private market soared to Rs 30 per kg. This year the DPC increased procurement price to Rs 38.46 and in the private markets prices have increased to Rs 32 per kg.”
Even though private players offer less, farmers prefer to sell to them because of instantaneous payment. Whereas in the DPC, they have to register, input their adangal, clean the ragi and even check the moisture content. Farmers say the process is tedious and considering transport costs, feel selling it to private players is hassle-free. In the DPC payment is only made later and hence farmers opt for private markets.
Speaking to TNIE, a staff in the DPC said, “ As opposed to procurement in 2023 where only 32.15 tonnes of ragi was procured, this year we procured over 75.30 tonnes in a month. By March or April we hope more farmers to bring their produce.”
Officials in the agriculture department said, “The orders come from the central government and we merely implement them. So we cannot comment if there is delay in opening DPC. We have informed them about the issue and it will be fixed.”
Regarding the low procurement, an official said, “Farmers are slowly adapting to the DPC process. It is common for them to shy away from the changes and government procedures, we are hopeful farmers would extend their cooperation.” Officials added, that between December 2023 and February 2024, over 1,613 hectares were covered under ragi cultivation, and 160 tonnes are likely to be brought to the DPC, “Overall we expect around 250 tonnes to be sold at DPC in 2024”, they said.