Record procurement in Thanjavur this season

According to officials, the usual procurement season between October and September use to be between 3 lakh MT and 3.50 lakh MT but during 2011, after water released from the Mettur dam was made on June 6 instead of the customary date of June 12 and the 6.50 lakh paddy was procured through the DPCs during the season which was considered as the maximum procurement.

While the procurement in 2018-19, during the flooding in the Cauvery, only 5.08 lakh MT paddy was procured but the previous season 2019-20, a quantity of 7.71 lakh MT paddy was procured and this was considered as a milestone in the history of TNCSC. Though it was claimed that the traders failed to turn to the districts owing to lockdown, the officials claimed the on-time release of water from Mettur had led the farmers to increase the acreage and they had witnessed a bumper harvest that was the result of record procurement.

There were as many as 449 DPCs opened in Thanjavur district owing to the good harvest. The officials said that there were only 400 DPCs opened at the maximum during the past years. Since the annual account closed for the procurement on September 26, the paddy has been piled up by the farmers near the DPCs and this paddy would be added in the account of the current procurement season.

“If these accumulated paddy has been added with the previous year’s account, the procurement would go beyond 8 lakh MT,” said farmers.