Paddy procurement has been brisk in Tiruvarur district with the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation registering peak procurement in the past few weeks.
The attractive price – more remunerative than the open market rates, offered by the corporation has been the main reason for farmers marketing their produce at its godown.
The per quintal price offered by the corporation is Rs. 1,520 for the fine variety and Rs. 1,460 for common variety. The incentive for the varieties, includes Rs. 70 and Rs. 50 respectively.
Official sources said the procurement ‘kuruvai’ paddy stood at about 42,000 tonnes and the corporation had made special arrangements to ensure that farmers got remunerative price. Since the price of paddy had registered a dip in the open market, farmers were making a beeline to the Corporation’s Direct Paddy Procurement Centre (DPPC) at Tiruthuraipoondi.
About 26,000 hectares of land was brought under “kuruvai” and harvest was nearing completion on 1,200 hectares of land.
Although the corporation anticipated about 1.45 lakh tonnes of ‘kuruvai’ crop, the procurement was far below particularly in the initial phase in the last two months as private paddy traders offered more remunerative price for the paddy.
A cross-section of farmers said they preferred to sell the paddy at the corporation now as the price was more attractive.
In the initial phase, private dealers offered more price and even ignored the moisture content of the paddy, they said.
