MADURAI : With harvest season intensifying in Madurai, direct procurement centres (DPCs) across the district are seeing an uptick in the arrival of paddy. However, in some areas, farmers have alleged that owing to a shortage of workers, there is a delay in the opening of the DPCs.
After much delay, especially owing to irrigation woes, samba paddy cultivation started late in November.
When compared to previous years, there has been a decrease in cultivation areas in Madurai, with just 30,000 hectares used for paddy cultivation. Accordingly, as the harvest season picked up earlier in March, the civil supplies corporation opened DPCs across the district to procure samba paddy.
Even as the harvest season draws to a close, the amount of paddy arriving at DPCs is lower when compared to previous years. After farmers alleged delays in opening of DPCs, officials have assured that steps are being taken to speed up the procurement process.
"Despite having over 300 acres under paddy cultivation in our village, the proposed DPC was opened much late, causing several hardships for farmers. Workers from other states are deputed at some DPCs, who are unable to understand what the farmers tell them. The department could depute local workers, which will prove to be more convenient for the farmers," said Nandhan, a farmer from Madurai.
Responding to the issues flagged by the farmers, senior TNCSC officials said, "The department has opened over 40 DPCs to procure samba paddy. So far, over 11,000 metric tonnes of paddy have been procured in Madurai. Considering the drop in cultivation areas, procurement is likely to reach 50,000 metric tonnes this year. As there was a shortage of staff to depute at DPCs, there was a slight delay. However, after this issue was brought to the notice of higher officials, additional workers from other districts were deputed to Madurai to carry out procurement work. Measures are being taken to ensure that paddy procurement is done properly, without affecting the farmers."