Following copious rain in November last and favourable weather thereafter, a record high production of nearly 30 lakh tonnes of paddy is expected as the current harvest season comes to an end in the district by April-end. This is considered a bumper harvest, considering the fact that just 12 lakh tonnes was produced in the district last year.
Till a week ago, paddy farmers had no complaints as they were getting a reasonably good price for their produce in the market.
But as the prices dropped all of a sudden, farmer leaders and associations started demanding market intervention by government agencies to enable purchase of paddy at minimum support price (MSP).
Traders and millers were blamed for the sudden drop in the market price, considering the fact that the crisis cropped up only after huge quantities of harvested paddy began arriving in the last few days. “We are expecting nearly 15 lakh tonnes of paddy harvest in April alone. Farmers will be saved if a minimum of 6 lakh tonnes is purchased at MSP,” said Ch. Koti Reddy, president of the Nellore District Farmers’ Association.
The farmers are now a worried lot as the market price has come down, and has been ranging between Rs. 2,500 and Rs. 4,500 per tonne since the past one week for different varieties of paddy.
In view of this, they have stopped selling their produce in the open market and prefer to wait for some more time.
Considering the widening demand-supply gap and falling prices, the district administration has opened paddy purchase centres at nearly 81 centres all over the district to offer MSP to the farmers.
The farmer leaders say that purchases began at just four to five centres and other centres are yet to become active due to various technical reasons. There is a demand for opening nearly 160 paddy purchase centres so that it would meet the requirements of the farmers this season.
The farmer leaders and people’s organisations are demanding that the government remove inter-State and intra-State restrictions for movement of paddy to enable farmers get a better price in the market. Also, the problem of tenant farmers should be addressed effectively to ensure a fair deal.
General secretary of BJP State unit S. Suresh Reddy demanded that free movement of paddy be made effective immediately to solve the problems of the farmers. He also wanted the district officials to make sure that the farmers were supplied enough bags. The tenant farmers should also not face any problem from village-level officials in getting certificates to bring their produce to the purchase centres, he said.
Mr. Suresh Reddy alleged that rice millers formed a syndicate and colluded with the officials to deny a good price to the farmers this season.
