Paddy procurement going on at brisk pace in Nalgonda

The Telangana State Civil Supplies Corporation Limited (TSCSCL) has procured 1,48,422 tonnes of paddy from farmers in the district till Wednesday, officials said.

The district officials have estimated a procurement of five lakh tonnes of paddy in the Rabi season, the process till date was “peaceful and at a brisk pace,” they said.

A total of 204 paddy procurement centres (140 IKP and 64 PACS) out of the proposed 219 were in operation across the district, it is learnt.

While most of the procured paddy from the procurement centres is being shifted to the mills on a daily basis, on Monday and Tuesday loaded trucks had to wait outside several mills as there was a huge an inflow of paddy from private sellers from parts of Andhra Pradesh.

Shortage of hamali workers, and crowded situation prevailed till the district administration intervened and held talks with rice mills and lorry transport associations.

Alert at check posts

Further, the administration alerted the check posts at Wadapalli and Vijayapuri South to regulate the inflow of paddy from AP and officials too are being deployed at each centre for the purpose.

On the other hand, the good harvest has seen a massive stocking at the procurement centres that are facing an acute shortage of tarpaulin covers to protect paddy.

As the official supply of 40 protective covers per centre is not enough to cover the demand, several private sellers were seen making a quick buck renting out tarpaulins at ₹ 20 per day.

Paddy has been brought to market by some 21,800 farmers worth ₹ 235 crore till Wednesday, and 14,251 farmers are waiting for their payments.