MADURAI/RAMANATHAPURAM: As Samba paddy harvest season picks up pace in Madurai and Ramanathapuram districts, civil supplies department are all set to open direct procurement centers (DPCs) for paddy procurement. As many as 40 DPCs have been proposed and 31 finalised for Madurai district, 84 DPCs have been announced for Ramanathapuram.
Nearly 40,000 hectares of land in Madurai and 1.38 lakh hectares in Ramanathapuram were used for Samba paddy cultivation. Despite a series of hurdles due to climate conditions such as pest issues and crop inundation, paddy crops reached harvest stages ahead of Pongal.
For Ramanathapuram district, of the proposed 40 DPCs, orders have been issued for 31. As harvest season has begun in R S Mangalam and Thiruvadanai, seven DPCs are to be opened on Friday (January 10). Officials added that proposals have been sent for sending procured paddy to modern rice mills in Sivaganga, Thoothukudi and Madurai for hulling. Last year, owing to crop damage, only 11,000 tonnes were procured through DPCs, but the numbers are likely to be higher this year.
Speaking to TNIE, regional managers of Civil Supplies Department at Madurai and Ramanathapuram said that for Madurai, considering the demand, the district administration has proposed 84 DPCs. Of which seven DPCs are to be opened this week and the remaining are likely to be opened after Pongal after harvest season picks up pace. Last year, over 53,000 metric tonnes of paddy was procured through DPCs in Madurai. Officials added that this year as farmers are showing interest in DPCs, the target has been set at 1 lakh metric tonnes for the year in Madurai.
"Workers have not been deputed for many DPCs delaying the opening of procurement centres. Immediate action should be taken towards deputing workers for DPC operations in Madurai," Arun, a farmer, from Madurai said.
A senior official from the civil supplies department in Madurai said that with the available workers, seven DPCs are to be opened in the district where harvest is about to start. For remaining areas, workers from other regions will be brought in ahead of the harvest.