Delay in procurement of paddy produce irks farmers in Mancherial

Farmers in Mancherial district are facing difficulties due to delays in paddy procurement for the Yasangi 2026 season. Despite cultivating 1.22 lakh acres and expecting 2.20 lakh metric tonnes of yield, only a limited number of procurement centres have been opened, leaving farmers worried about crop damage from unseasonal rains and possible distress sales to private traders.

Mancherial: Farmers are facing inconvenience due to delay in a full-fledged procurement of paddy produce belonging to Yasangi season-2026.

Farmers raised the paddy crop despite challenges in the form of shortage of urea and delay in releasing Rythu Benefits. They started harvesting the crop from the first week of this month.

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According to information provided by agriculture officials, the paddy crop was grown in 1.22 lakh acres in the district in this Yasangi season. Officials estimated that the district would register a yield of 2.20 lakh metric tonnes of paddy this time.

The Civil Supplies Department said that 313 centres were identified by various agencies including Indira Kranthi Pathakam (IKP), Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS) and District Cooperative Marketing Societies (DCMS) to procure the paddy across the district.

They stated that basic amenities were created for the convenience of the farmers. They claimed that the process of the paddy produce procurement was commenced in the middle of April.

The State government has already declared that it would procure all the grains from the farmers. The growers shifted the paddy produce to nearby centres expecting the grains would be weighed and procured by the government. They alleged that over 50 centres were set up so far, causing inconvenience and affecting the process of paddy procurement.

They stated that they were guarding heaps of paddy at the centres, waiting for weighing and procurement of the grains. The farmers regretted that the paddy produce would be drenched if the district sees unseasonal heavy rains, resulting in huge losses to them. They requested the officials to take steps to expedite the process by commencing the process at all centres.

It is learned the rice mills identified for taking up customized the rice milling (CMR) process were not tagged so far. Vehicles were not hired for shipping the grains from the centres to the mills. The farmers feared that they would be forced to sell the grains to private traders if the process of paddy procurement was delayed further.

The farmers recalled that the produce used to be procured by the government without any hitches during the regime of BRS.