Unseasonal rains hit paddy stocks, Govt. directs faster procurement operations
Amid farmer protests and unseasonal rains damaging paddy stocks, Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy directed officials to accelerate procurement, safeguard crops, and enhance storage, as arrivals rise during the crucial Rabi marketing season
Hyderabad: As farmers continue to stage protests over the delay in procurement, Civil Supplies Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy directed officials to initiate measures for scaling up paddy procurement operations. He also wanted the officials to take steps in protecting farmers from untimely rains and losses.
There is a forecast of untimely rains for the rest of the week. These apart, heavy showers had battered multiple districts on Sunday triggering havoc on paddy stocks at harvest centres and market yards.
The Minister held a video conference with district in-charge Ministers, Collectors, the Civil Supplies officials on Monday. The meeting reviewed the season’s progress, including paddy arrivals and procurement. Officials discussed accelerating procurement, tackling bottlenecks, and protecting farmers from heavy losses caused by unseasonal rains and heat-wave conditions across several districts.
Putting the official machinery on high alert, the Minister emphasized the need for vigilant monitoring of weather conditions and ensuring that farmers are promptly informed about rainfall forecasts from time to time.
Procurement has so far reached around 14. 80 lakh metric tonnes (LMT), with all 8,575 Paddy Procurement Centres (PPCs) fully operational. This includes over 8 lakh metric tonnes of coarse varieties. An amount of over Rs.2001.96 crore has already been remitted to the accounts of farmers, officials stated.
Stressing that Minimum Support Price (MSP) operations would be crucial in the current month for achieving the targets set for the Rabi Marketing season, the Minister said paddy arrivals were likely to increase in the coming days, making an immediate ramp-up of purchases critical.
He wanted officials to specially focus on high-volume PPCs, especially those in Nalgonda and Nizamabad districts. Unseasonal rains accompanied by strong winds have drenched significant quantities of paddy in different districts including Nalgonda, Mahabubnagar, and Khammam.
The Nalgonda Collector reported 299 MT of wet paddy across four centres following a sudden 20-minute storm on Sunday evening that blew off tarpaulins despite prior alerts. Similar incidents were reported in Mahabubabad, Suryapet, Khammam, and Kothagudem.
The entire soaked paddy should be immediately shifted to assigned parboiled rice mills using already-issued district allocations to salvage the crop. Officials should ensure that tarpaulins were used properly and stocks were covered before any visible damage occurs, he said.
The Minister directed officials to prepare for continued unseasonal rains over the next three to four days by taking every possible precautionary measure. Intermediate storage capacity of about 16 lakh MT has been arranged across districts as a buffer. The state has also secured parboiled rice allocations (nearly 16.8 lakh MT equivalent so far) and has sought an additional allocation of 15 lakh MT. Gunny bag stocks of 18.5 crore bags (both new and old) have been mobilized, he stressed.
