CHENNAI: The state government has raised the paddy procurement limit at Direct Procurement Centres (DPCs) from 60 to 70 bags per acre. Previously, DPCs manned by the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC) and its authorised agencies purchased 2,400kg of paddy (60 bags) per acre, but this has now been increased to 2,800kg (70 bags) in response to farmers’ requests. During a review meeting, TN’s Food Minister R Sakkarapani directed officials to implement the increased procurement limit for the current season from Thursday, an official note said.
The government has also ordered an increase in the daily procurement limit of DPCs from 32 tonnes to 40 tonnes, raising the number of paddy bags per centre from 800 to 1,000. Currently, the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation procures paddy from farmers in 10 delta districts under the central pool on behalf of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) for distribution through ration shops. The National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India Limited (NCCF), an agency under the union government, handles paddy procurement in non-delta districts on behalf of TNCSC.
A senior official from TNCSC said the decision to increase the paddy limit per bag and per-day purchase limit of DPCs will reduce the farmers’ waiting time at DPCs. “About 10 lakh MT of paddy has been procured from farmers during the current Kharif marketing season (2024-25),” an official said. During 2023-24, total paddy procurement dropped to 35 lakh MT, compared to 44.22 lakh MT the previous year. This year, the figure is expected to reach 40 lakh MT, added the official.
Under the National Food Security Act and other schemes, FCI is required to allocate 37.5 lakh metric tonnes (MT) of rice to TN annually.