About 38.5 lakh tonnes paddy has been procured so far this rabi season in the State, in spite of farmers facing problem such as long delays in disposing of their produce at purchase centres and quality issues due to grain soaked in the frequent untimely rains.
Grain worth ₹7,907 crore has been procured from about 6.05 lakh farmers at over 7,000 procurement centres opened for the purpose. In spite of the delays in procurement, the grain purchased so far this season is 10 lakh tonnes higher compared to May 23 last year.
Minister for Civil Supplies G. Kamalakar reviewed the procurement exercise with officials of State Civil Supplies Corporation (TSCSC) including Commissioner V. Anil Kumar and General Manager Raja Reddy here on Tuesday. He stated that the Corporation had procured higher quantity of paddy this season compared to last rabi as they had been addressing problems from time to time.
Farmers must understand the fact that paddy would be procured with fair average qualities specified by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) as the Civil Supplies Corporation would supply the custom milled rice to the agency. He would hold a video conference with the District Collectors of Wednesday on the procurement exercise to speed it up further, the Minister said.
Stating that procurement of about 1.5 lakh tonnes of paddy, on an average, every day for the last few days was indication of stepped-up efforts by the Corporation, the Minister noted that about 400 procurement centres were closed already as paddy purchase in those areas was completed.
Suggesting that the farmers develop understanding of quality specifications laid down by the FCI, the Minister said most of the problems would be resolved in the procurement exercise if the quality norms were followed. The officials of the TSCSC as also the district administration concerned were making efforts to resolve problem arising from time to time at the procurement centres and rice mills.
