Telangana deploys paddy huskers to streamline paddy procurement

To improve transparency and efficiency in paddy procurement, the Telangana government is introducing husker machines at procurement centres. These machines will automate grain quality testing, helping identify fine variety paddy eligible for a Rs 500 bonus.

Karimnagar: To curb irregularities and simplify the procurement process, the State government has decided to introduce modern technology in paddy procurement by deploying paddy huskers at procurement centres.

Officials said the paddy husker machines would be used to determine the fine variety of paddy. At present, staff at procurement centres test the quality of paddy manually by removing the shell from grains manually.

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The new machines will automate this process, once a handful of grains is placed in the machine, the shell is removed automatically, allowing officials to measure the length, width and percentage of grains using a grain caliper (dial micrometer).

Grains with a length of more than 6 mm and width less than 2 mm will qualify as fine variety, eligible for a Rs 500 bonus. Each paddy procurement centre (PPC) is expected to be equipped with two paddy husker machines.

Special arrangements are also being made for identifying fine variety paddy. Bags containing fine paddy will be stitched with red thread and marked with the letter ‘S’, while normal paddy bags will be stitched with green thread.

Tenant farmers must obtain approval from Agriculture Department officials before selling their produce at PPCs. Farmers selling below 50 bags require clearance from Agriculture Extension Officers, while those selling above 50 bags need permission from the Mandal Agriculture Officer.

With the State government offering a Rs.500 bonus for fine variety paddy, most farmers are switching to cultivating the premium grain. PPC organisers will procure crops based on tokens issued by AEOs.

Farmers are required to carry their Aadhaar card, bank passbook and pattadar passbook while selling crops and must verify their details in the Online Procurement Management System (OPMS).