Paddy stocks have piled up at the mills and sudden rains have damaged dried paddy causing huge losses
Gudipally Vishnuvardhan Reddy, a native of Kalher village in Sangareddy district, cultivated paddy in about 10 acres and harvested the crop. The crop was ready for lifting to the mill after weighing. Though the paddy procurement centre was inaugurated formally, full operations have not yet commenced. It is reported that the fifty-year-old farmer has been waiting for his paddy to be lifted for the past three weeks. On Monday night there was a rain in which he got soaked and on Tuesday morning, while covering the dried paddy with a tarpaulin sheet, he fell down. Ohter farmers immediately shifted him to a hospital and he recovered.
At several places, the sudden rains have damaged the paddy that was spread on drying platforms as well as on roads, causing huge loss to farmers. Officials are admitting that the lower layer of paddy will start sprouting due to moisture and the farmers have no other option.
This is just the tip of an iceberg on how the farmers are finding it difficult to lift the paddy from drying platforms. Though some farmers are alleging that gunny bags were not supplied at the platforms to lift the paddy from the field, the officials are stating that it is not new and for the past two years they have been extending gunny bags only after paddy was brought to the procurement centres to avoid any misuse of bags. Even the farmers are accepting that in the past some farmers have misused gunny bags, leading to such restrictions.
Officials are admitting that huge delay has been taking place in paddy procurement with millers not coming forward to lift the stocks as already the old stocks have piled up with them and there is no space at all in several mills.
“In the previous season we had supplied about 200 per cent of the capacity to the millers as there was bumper harvest. Many of the millers could not mill even 40 per cent of that stock due to various reasons including COVID pandemic and non-availability of labour. Though the government permitted millers to stock the paddy wherever they prefer, they are not coming forward due to security reasons. The question is who will be responsible if something goes wrong at the stock points. They are requesting us to provide vacant space with some sort of security and they are ready to pay the rent. We are providing space at the godowns belonging to Agriculture Market Committees (AMC). In the past these were used by Cotton Corporation of India (CCI),” said an officer.
