KARIMNAGAR: Farmers in erstwhile Karimnagar district continue to remain in the grip of fear, praying that they be spared of any spell of untimely rain that could destroy their livelihood by soaking the paddy they had brought to the procurement centres. Such is their worry that farmers, who had left their produce at the procurement centre, are returning every morning and evening to check the status of their heaps of paddy.
Chandraiah, a farmer from Makhdumpur, told ‘Express’ that he had brought his paddy produce to the procurement centre about a week ago, and no one had come forward to procure it. “When we look skywards in the evening, we are scared due to the thick cloud cover. The recent untimely rains had dashed our hopes, but fortunately, the soaked paddy dried within two days due to the scorching summer heat,” Chandraiah said. He said that farmers, unsure of the weather, are keen to dispose of their produce as early as possible, hence are lining up at the IKP centre in Sultanabad mandal.
Meanwhile, the paddy flattened by the hailstorm of four days ago is still unfit for sale. Kola Narayana from Chelgal village of Jagtial mandal said that the government should expedite the procurement process and start weighing the paddy produce to bring some relief to the farmers. On Friday, Jagtial district collector G Ravi visited some centres asked officials to expedite the purchase of grains.