MADURAI : A dip in cultivated areas and increased open market prices have largely pushed down paddy procurement at direct procurement centres (DPCs) in Madurai and Ramanathapuram districts. Even as the harvest season peaked in both districts, the arrival of paddy at DPCs remained relatively low this year.
In Madurai district, the delay in releasing Vaigai water and the delayed onset of monsoon led to a decrease in cultivated areas. Over 29,000 hectares were used for samba paddy cultivation this year, and many single-crop farmers in the district refrained from involving in samba paddy cultivation.
Contrary to this, paddy cultivation was higher than in recent years in Ramanathapuram district, with 1.39 lakh hectares used for samba paddy cultivation. But unseasonal rains towards the end of the season, in December 2023 and January 2024 affected more than 10,000 hectares and hurt the yield.
As the harvest season peaked in both districts, the civil supplies department set a target of 1 lakh metric tonnes and set up numerous DPCs across the districts.
TN Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC) Madurai regional manager stated that compared to previous years, paddy procurement is much slower this year and awareness campaigns are being taken up. Currently, about 20 centres are actively receiving paddy in the district, and about 4,200 metric tonnes of paddy have been procured thus far. An additional 32 DPCs will soon be opened in the district.
Even though the procurement was well above 1 lakh metric tonnes last year, it is lacking this year owing to a decrease in cultivated areas and a rise in open market procurement price. It is expected that procurement at DPCs will cross 50,000 metric tonnes this year.
TNCSC’s Ramanathapuram regional manager said that though the harvest season is drawing to a close, the procurement at DPCs has not taken off this year, even though awareness campaigns have been held across the district to urge farmers to sell their produce at DPCs.
Nearly 55 DPCs in the district have procured 8,000 tonnes of paddy, and the total procurement is likely to range between 12,000 to 15,000 metric tonnes by the end of the year.
While speaking to TNIE, Ravi, a farmer said that the price of paddy has increased considerably in the open market this year. Prices in the open market are well above Rs 28 - 30 per kilo, whereas they remain at Rs 23 per kilo at DPCs, which is why farmers are opting to sell their produce in the open markets. Some farmers are waiting for the harvest season to end, hoping that the prices will rise further.