Tadapalli-Arakkankottai ayacut ryots association president lawyer Subi Thalapathy appealed to the government to arrange mobile paddy dryer machines to protect the paddy, procured by the TNCSC, which were hit by incessant rains in various areas of the state.
He said the government directly procures paddy from the farmers at the minimum support price which is better than the market price. Out of over 2,000 paddy procurement stations, many are located in the Delta districts. Fine variety paddy with moisture content not exceeding 17 percent is bought at a price of Rs.2,060 per quintal, including Rs.100 as incentive provided by state Government.
Coarse variety paddy is bought at Rs.2,015 per quintal including Rs. 75 as incentive. If paddy with 22 percent moisture content is kept in bags for more than 15 days, the paddy will become moldy. Such paddy is milled and sent to fair price shops for the public distribution scheme, the rice gets spoiled with bad smell.
This problem will not occur if the paddy is sent to mills in time. Now, as paddy is left in the open places for up to 3 months after purchase, the moisture content of the paddy increases. It is not fair for the government to insist that only 17 percent moisture content of paddy will be procured during the rainy season.
To protect the interests of farmers, mobile paddy dryee machines should be used at the direct paddy procurement stations. Each machine will dry 2 tonnes of paddy with more than 21 per cent moisture content and reduce the moisture to 15 per cent within 2 hours. It has a boiler that generates heat. It is equipped with sophisticated automatic sensors to monitor humidity.
Instead of waiting for permission from the Central government to purchase paddy with 22 percent moisture content from farmers, the government can procure the machines. Tarpaulins should also be provided to all paddy procurement centres and funds be allocated for the construction of permanent buildings for them to protect paddy from rain, he suggested.