Ryots demand DMK govt to fix paddy price at Rs 2500 per quintal

CHENNAI: A day after the state government announced paddy procurement with additional incentives for Kharif season, Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam has demanded the DMK government to fulfil its electoral promise of providing Rs 2500 per quintal of paddy.

In a statement, the farmers association general secretary Sami Natarajan said that in a situation when the input prices for paddy cultivation and labour wages have risen sharply, even the fixation of Rs 3000 per quintal would be grossly inadequate but the DMK promised to pay Rs 2500 per quintal of paddy in its election manifesto. "The farmers expected that Rs 2500 per quintal would be paid this year. But the government has hiked its incentives by mere Rs seven per quintal over the last year, " he said, demanding the government to fulfil its election promise by fixing paddy procurement price at Rs 2500 per quintal.

The procurement price of Rs 2,310 a quintal for Grade-A varieties includes a Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rs 2,203 per quintal, approved by the Union government for the 2023-24 Kharif season, and an incentive of Rs 107 a quintal from the State government. In the case of the Rs 2,265 a quintal for common varieties, the MSP is Rs 2,183 a quintal and the incentive from the Tamil Nadu government is Rs 82 a quintal.