TIRUCHY: Voicing concern over the state government’s recent hike in the procurement price of paddy, farmers in the delta region said the incentive does not match the steep rise in cultivation cost. They have urged the government to revise the rates in tune with the soaring input and fuel expenses. The state government has announced an incentive of Rs 156 per quintal for fine varieties of paddy and Rs 131 per quintal for common varieties, over and above the union government’s Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rs 2,389 and Rs 2,369 per quintal respectively, announced in May.
As a result, the farmers will now receive Rs 2,545 per quintal for fine variety of paddy and Rs 2,500 per quintal for common variety. However, the farmers argue that the increase does not adequately cover the actual expenditure incurred on cultivation. Vayalur N Rajendran, state treasurer of the farmers’ wing of the Tamil Manila Congress, said the cost of seeds, labour, chemical fertilizers, organic fertilizers, machinery hiring and fuel has risen sharply compared to previous years.
“The MSP must be revised to match these escalating input costs. So, present MSP should be increased to Rs 3,600 per quintal,” he said. Swamimalai S Vimalnathan, secretary of the Tamil Nadu Cauvery Farmers Protection Association, said the ruling DMK had promised higher procurement prices five years ago during its Assembly election campaign. “At that time, Rs 2,500 per quintal was considered fair. Now, with rising costs, the state should have fixed at least Rs 3,000 per quintal. States like Chhattisgarh and Odisha are offering Rs 3,160 per quintal for paddy. Tamil Nadu should give announce at least that much incentive to the farmers,” he said.