TN wants relaxation for procuring paddy

CHENNAI: J Radhakrishnan, Secretary of Food and Civil Supplies department, urged the Union government to relax the norms for procuring paddy.

"In order to reduce hardship of farmers, it is requested to allow the State procuring agency namely the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation to procure paddy from the farmers with moisture content up to 22 per cent and for relaxation in the minimum limit of immature, shrunken and shriveled upto 5 per cent (as against 3 per cent) and damaged, discoloured, sprouted and weeviled upto 7 per cent (as against 5 per cent) considering heavy rains and the fact that the farmers are totally depending on the State agency for the sale of paddy under the decentralised procurement scheme,” said Radhakrishnan, in a letter written to Union Department of Food and Public Distribution.

Following heavy rain and lack of adequate time to dry the paddy post harvest, there were demands from farmers to relax the procurement norms following which Radhakrishnan assured that despite the procurement of paddy with moisture the paddy will be hilled immediately and the resultant rice will confirm to the uniform specification of the union government.

Already the Union government has relaxed the procurement norms for paddy by increasing the moisture content in paddy from 17 to 19 per cent.