Middlemen make merry as paddy procurement drags on in erstwhile Medak district

Since the primary agriculture cooperative society (PACS) at Rampur in Nanganur of Siddipet district did not start procurement of the paddy even after opening the centre 10 days ago, farmers of the village organised a protest on Saturday

Sangareddy: Middlemen are apparently making merry as paddy procurement is being delayed across the erstwhile Medak district. Farmers are forced to sell their produce at Rs.300 to Rs.400 less than the MSP of Rs.2,300 fixed by the government.

Since the primary agriculture cooperative society (PACS) at Rampur in Nanganur of Siddipet district did not start procurement of the paddy even after opening the centre 10 days ago, farmers of the village organised a protest on Saturday.

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The farmers alleged that middlemen purchased 15 tractor loads of the paddy as procurement was delayed. When the farmers questioned the officials of PACS, they said the rice mill owners were not willing to unload the paddy. When the farmers asked how the same rice mill owner purchased paddy from middlemen, the PACS officials had no answer.

The situation at Rampur was just a reflection of the state of paddy procurement in the entire erstwhile Medak district. Since the district has been witnessing continuous rains for the last one week, the farmers had sold out their produce to middlemen, fearing damage and lack of storage points.

While the district administrations in Sangareddy, Siddipet and Medak proposed to open 1,008 procurement centres, not more than 20 per cent of the centres have started procurement. The procurement process was going at a snail’s pace even at centres where the procurement commenced.

The area under paddy cultivation in Siddipet, Medak and Sanagreddy was 3.68 lakh acres, 2.97 lakh acres and 1.08 lakh acres respectively.

There was a shortage of gunny bags, tarpaulins, moisture-measuring machines and fine rice-measuring devices across the district. Since the IMD has predicted rains in She state for the next three days, the farmers will have a tough time saving their paddy crops.

Farmer Kathala Linga Reddy of Rampur said the negligence of the official machinery was worrying them. Many farmers had sold out their produce to middlemen while the rest of them were struggling to save the harvest from the continuous rains, he said.