Rains hit procurement in Mayiladuthurai

TIRUCHY: The procurement of paddy has been temporarily closed in Mayiladuthurai on Monday due to sudden rains that was witnessed from late on Sunday night.

Mayiladuthurai district received widespread rainfall from Sunday night with the maximum of 19 mm rainfall in Sirkazhi, Sembanarkoil with 15.80 mm and Kollidam with 10 mm rainfall. Since the samba and thalady harvest is in full swing in the district, as many as 85 DPCs were opened across the district. Following the rains, the DPC officials stopped procuring paddy temporarily to avoid damage to the paddy. Sources said that the rain water pooled around several DPCs and so the decision of no procurement had a mixed response among the farmers.

“In this case, we have been demanding a closed storage facility for farmers. We have been drying paddy along the roads and stocking them in the same place waiting for procurement. The officials stop the procurement just to avoid blame from the farmers,” said Shanmugam, a farmer from Sirkazhi.

However, a section of farmers claimed that the announcement was a welcome one as the farmers need not transport the paddy to the DPCs without knowing them to be closed and return.

Meanwhile, the harvest of paddy was also affected in the district for a while.