The Coordination Committee of All Farmers’ Associations in Tamil Nadu has urged the State government to ensure that ‘kuruvai’ paddy with higher moisture content is procured through direct purchase centres (DPC).
Talking to reporters at Kachanam near Thiruthuraipoondi, Committee president P.R.Pandian claimed that at most of the DPCs, the staff refuse to procure the ‘kuruvai’ paddy citing higher moisture content. Demanding that paddy with a moisture content of up to 22% should be procured without fail, he called upon the State government to obtain permission from the Central government in this regard since the ‘kuruvai’ harvest is to pick up in the Delta region.
Pointing out that the ‘kuruvai’ harvest was expected to be completed by the third week of October, Mr. Pandian said that at present paddy procurement was being made only at the places where the DPCs had permanent structures. Hassle-free procurement could be ensured only if adequate number of DPCs, at least equal to the ones that functioned last year, were opened or else the problem of harvested paddy lying in the open and sprouting of paddy would crop up.
Regarding the issue of the arrival of paddy from other places into Delta districts, he claimed that the farmers had no role to play in such activities and squarely blamed the taluk-level officials of the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation for those illegal activities.
Earlier, he interacted with the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Department secretary, J. Radhakrishnan where he suggested that DAP and other fertilisers could be made available by the Southern Petrochemical Industries Corporation (SPIC) Limited to the farmers through Cooperative institutions, and retailing of fertilisers at the Primary Agriculture Cooperative Banks should also be permitted. Further, the sale of fertilisers to the loanee farmers alone would be of no use, he added.
Mr. Pandian also insisted that District Central Cooperative Banks should be set up separately for Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur and Mayiladuthurai districts.
