Tanjavur: Due to the rise in rice prices, it has come to light that private traders have so far purchased 2,000 truckloads of paddy from farmers in the delta districts.
The paddy grown by farmers in the delta districts is being procured by the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation through direct paddy procurement centers. Accordingly, this year, procurement centers were opened at 416 locations during the Kuruvai season, and procurement operations are being carried out intensively.
In the delta districts, paddy was cultivated this year over an area of 2.50 lakh acres during the kuruvai season. Of this, 60 percent of the harvest work has now been completed. Farmers are bringing the harvested paddy to procurement centers for sale and are selling it there.
In this situation, over the past few days, private traders have been busy going directly to the fields and purchasing paddy from farmers. Since they buy paddy without dust and regardless of how moist it is, farmers are showing interest in selling to private buyers because they can avoid expenses such as transporting the paddy to procurement centers, the Rs. 50 bribe per sack there, and the practice of weighing an extra one and a half kilos per sack.
Moreover, in line with the purchase price at the paddy procurement centers, that is, when procurement is being done at Rs. 26.50 per kilo at the procurement centers, private traders are also procuring at up to Rs. 25 per kilo.
Regarding this, Tamil Nadu Farmers Association joint state president Gakkarai R. Sugumaran said: If the harvested paddy is taken to procurement centers, the procurement center staff trouble the farmers by citing various reasons such as the moisture content is too high, no lorries are available, and only 600 bags will be procured per day.
At the same time, due to the rise in rice prices, private traders have been showing greater interest in paddy procurement this year. In particular, since paddy production has declined in Karnataka, the paddy procured in the delta districts is being sent both to Karnataka and to private rice mills in the Arani region.
He said that even though the price is slightly lower, farmers are showing interest in selling to private buyers because of practical expenses and the hassles involved.
Regarding this, private paddy wholesalers and retailers said: Due to the reduction in paddy cultivation in Karnataka state, rice prices have now risen. As a result, we buy paddy from the delta districts in lorries and send it there.
So far in the Kuruvai season, we have sent 2,000 lorryloads of paddy bags from the delta districts to other districts and to Karnataka. Since we buy paddy at a price equivalent to the procurement rate at the procurement centers, farmers are showing interest. They said this.