Paddy procurement will be more than last year, says J Radhakrishnan
“As many as 538 DPCs have been opened across the State and 83,152 MT paddy has been procured so far. This is 12,000 MT more than the previous year on the same date,” he said.
Dr Radhakrishnan at a DPC in Thanjavur on Saturday
TIRUCHY: Procurement of 40 lakh MT paddy has been set as a target this year, which would surpass 34.96 lakh MT achieved last year, said the Additional Chief Secretary, Cooperation, Food and Consumer Protection Dr J Radhakrishnan on Saturday.
After inspecting the ongoing procurement process through the Direct Procurement Centres (DPCs) in Thanjavur, Radhakrishnan said, the procurement year commenced on September 1 and Rs 2,450 per quintal of fine variety and Rs 2,405 per quintal of common variety has been fixed.
“As many as 538 DPCs have been opened across the State and 83,152 MT paddy has been procured so far. This is 12,000 MT more than the previous year on the same date,” he said.
Stating that 34.96 lakh MT paddy was procured last year (from September to August), Radhakrishnan said, the farmers faced several natural calamities including drought last year and there was poor cultivation in the tail-end regions in Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam districts.
“But this year, we expect to procure at least 40 lakh MT despite there being a few hardships faced by the farmers,” he said.
He appealed not to accept money from the farmers while they bring paddy to the DPCs. He also appealed to the traders not to be involved in procuring through the private centres for less price and sell them in the government-run DPCs.
Meanwhile, Radhakrishnan said, a crop loan to the tune of Rs 16,500 crore has been fixed this year and so far, a loan worth Rs 4,405 crore has been disbursed to as many as 4.91 lakh farmers.
Thanjavur Collector B Priyanka Pankajam, Regional Joint Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Tamil Nangai and others accompanied him.