Central team inspects paddy at DPCs in Delta

TIRUCHY: The Delta farmers have appealed to the Central team, who arrived in the region to assess the moisture condition of the paddy affected due to the untimely rainfall, to allow the procurement of paddy without restricting the moisture level, colour and size of the grains so that the loss would be minimised.

As a quick response to the state request for the relaxation of moisture condition of the paddy as the unseasonal rainfall had damaged 2.10 lakh acres of ready-for-harvest paddy, a three-member team consisting of C Yunus, Technical Officer, Storage and Research (S and R) Quality Control Cell (QCC), Chennai, Prabhakaran, Technical Officer (S and R) QCC, Bengaluru and Y Boya, Technical Officer (S and R) QCC, Bengaluru were deputed to assess the condition of paddy in Nagapattinam, Mayiladuthurai, Tiruvarur, Thanjavur, Pudukkottai and Tiruchy.

The team commenced the assessment from Nagapattinam and interacted with the farmers after inspecting the DPC in Talainayaru, Thirukkuvalai, Valivalam, Pattamangalam and Sirnkudi Puliyur and checking the moisture condition of the paddy there.

When they interacted with the farmers, they insisted the team recommend a relaxation of the moisture condition. “While the samba and thaladi harvest were in full swing, the unseasonal rains disrupted the harvest and damaged the paddy. Since the water failed to recede, our efforts to rescue the crop went futile. Most of the crops submerged in water for a few days resulting in a total loss,” said Cauvery V Dhanapalan, district secretary of Tamil Nadu Cauvery Farmers Protection Association.

Mayiladuthurai Collector AP Mahabharathi said when the team inspected the paddy, the moisture content was between 19-24 per cent. “Already 38,545 MT paddy was procured by TNCSC through DPCs in the district while 1.22 lakh MT paddy was expected,” the Collector said.