Supplyco procures 98,000 tonnes of paddy

Production has declined compared with 2016-17 season

The Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation (Supplyco) has procured 98,000 tonnes of paddy as the ‘puncha’ crop season is nearing completion in the district.

Senior paddy marketing officer A.V. Suresh Kumar told The Hindu that the production had declined compared with the 2016-17 season.

“We have so far completed the procurement of 95% of paddy cultivated in the district during the puncha season. On an average, the puncha season yields 1.10 lakh tonnes of harvest. However, this year the production has declined. The average yield from one hectare has fallen to 1.5 to 2.8 tonnes from the normal 2 to 3 tonnes. At the completion of the procurement, we expect the production to go down by at least 10,000 tonnes,” Mr. Kumar said.

As per the data, paddy was sown in 23,500 hectares this year compared to 27,000 hectares in the year ago.

Delayed harvesting of the second crop season (additional crop season) due to downpour in September-November months and attack of wild rice (vari nellu) in polders during last season forced many farmers to abandon paddy cultivation, especially in Kuttanad.

Besides, early intrusion of seawater, drought situation, and infestation also affected paddy cultivation in the region, officials said.

Procurement issues

Other than the decline in production, procurement faced issues in a few places after farmers and mill owners locked horns over moisture content and poor quality of the produce. This has led to a delay in procurement in some places.

The procurement has been done as per the registration made by around 30,000 farmers online. The government has made contract arrangements with mills for processing the paddy.

The procurement price offered this season is ₹23.30. This includes the Minimum Statutory Price of ₹15.50 and the State Incentive Bonus of ₹7.80. The farmers are provided the procurement price from different banks on production of the paddy receipt sheet (PRS) issued by the millers.

“So far this season, ₹150 crore has been distributed to more 11,000 farmers in the district. Rest of the farmers will be provided procurement price in a time-bound manner,” Mr. Kumar added.