Delta farmers have alleged that harvesting of ‘kuruvai’ paddy has come under threat in view of the climatic conditions and ‘reluctance’ on the part of the government procurement agencies to step up pace of procurement.
As preparatory works for cultivation of ‘samba’ and ‘thaladi’ is picking up, the delay in the harvesting of ‘kuruvai’ paddy caused due to factors such as non-availability of sufficient hands locally and the widespread rain across the Delta districts for the past few days have caused immense worry among farmers who had taken up ‘kuruvai’ cultivation this season following the opening of the Stanley Reservoir at Mettur for irrigation on the scheduled date of June 12, they claimed.
Moreover, the non-opening of adequate numbers of Direct Purchase Centres (DPC) by the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation like the previous year had compounded the problem, according to general secretary, Thamizhaga Cauvery Vivasayigal Sangam, P. R. Pandian.
For instance, several farmers in the Tiruvarur district have delayed the harvesting process since the Corporation did not open the DPCs at several areas by claiming that the centres could not be opened in view of their locations which is prone to inundation and other operational reasons.
Further, the paddy brought to the DPCs were rejected citing moisture content, he said and added that the situation could have been averted had the State government obtained prior permission from the Union government to procure paddy with a moisture content of 22 per cent in view of the climatic conditions predicted by the Meteorological Department much earlier.
The Delta farmers who have already been denied an opportunity to insure ‘kuruvai’ crop are now facing a piquant situation with the standing crop getting lodged in the fields due to sudden downpour, he claimed.
Stating that though the need of the hour was the availability of paddy dryers, general secretary, Federation of Farmers Associations of Delta Districts, P. Kalyanam exhorted the State government to revive the mobile paddy procurement exercise to ensure smooth and quick procurement of ‘kuruvai’ paddy.
He also urged the State government to consider the Delta farmers’ plea for setting up silos with paddy dryers in every taluk in the Delta districts to procure and store 20,000 to 30,000 tonnes of paddy, a plea repeatedly raised by the farmers since 2007.
Meanwhile, official sources claimed that the DPCs to procure ‘kuruvai’ paddy were being opened at places where such requests have come from farmers and the paddy was being procured as per the norms.
