TN delta farmers seek faster paddy procurement as stocks pile up in open centres
Tiruchi, July 13
Delta farmers have urged the Tamil Nadu government to speed up paddy procurement and ensure the immediate movement of procured stocks from Direct Procurement Centres, warning that delays are causing large accumulations at open yards and slowing fresh procurement during the ongoing summer harvest season.
With harvesting of the summer crop almost complete across the Cauvery Delta, farmers say poor planning has left thousands of bags of paddy lying exposed at procurement centres for several days. They fear prolonged storage in the open could affect grain quality while also delaying procurement from growers still waiting to sell their produce.
The short-term summer paddy crop was cultivated on around 1.60 lakh acres across the Delta beginning in April. Procurement commenced during the last week of June and is scheduled to continue until August. Alongside the open DPCs, the government also established Point of Procurement centres, each with a daily procurement capacity of 1,000 bags.
Farmer organisations alleged that procurement has slowed considerably in recent weeks. According to them, many centres that initially procured around 1,000 bags a day are now handling only 500 to 600 bags daily. They attributed the slowdown to delays in moving procured paddy from DPCs to Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC) warehouses and subsequently to hulling mills.
They said the usual practice of transporting paddy soon after procurement has not been followed this season, resulting in stocks remaining at open centres for extended periods.
Farmer representatives alleged that because the accumulated stocks have not been cleared, procurement staff have become reluctant to accept additional paddy from farmers, fearing further congestion at the centres.
They claimed this has forced many cultivators to continue storing harvested paddy at their own cost while waiting for procurement. They also described the situation as a case of administrative mismanagement, alleging that officials are awaiting further directions before transporting the accumulated stocks to warehouses and hulling units.
The backlog is reportedly visible across several procurement centres in Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Mayiladuthurai districts.
Farmers estimate that many centres are holding between 10,000 and 15,000 bags of procured paddy that have remained in the open for several days.
They warned that prolonged exposure could lead to weight loss, discolouration and other quality issues, besides slowing procurement further at a time when farmers are looking to dispose of their harvest without delay.
— IANS
Reader Comments
It's frustrating to see how something as basic as moving paddy from procurement centres to warehouses becomes a bottleneck. In the US, the logistics would be handled by private companies with contracts — but here the public sector seems incapable of managing the supply chain. Farmers in the Cauvery Delta deserve better, especially after investing in cultivation. The government needs to bring in temporary workers or third-party logistics to clear the backlog immediately.
This is a double whammy for delta farmers. First, they have to deal with water issues and unpredictable weather, and now this. When the government sets up DPCs, they must ensure a seamless flow from procurement to storage to milling. Slowing from 1000 bags to 500-600 bags per day is a clear sign of mismanagement. Also, why are officials waiting for directions? They should be proactive. My father is a farmer in Thanjavur, and I've seen how they struggle. 😡
It's unfortunate but not surprising to see this kind of inefficiency in public procurement. The article mentions farmers having to store paddy at their own cost — that's basically double punishment: they do the government's job of storage, and then wait for payment. In Australia, farmers have grain storage facilities coordinated with railways for quick movement. India needs to modernize its agriculture supply chain, especially for rice, which is a staple. This is a structural problem, not just seasonal.
I'm from Tiruvarur district and have seen this first-hand. Our local DPC has huge piles of paddy covered with tarpaulin, and farmers are just sitting around waiting. The issue is that TNCSC doesn't have enough trucks and staff to move the stocks to hulling mills. The government should immediately deploy additional transport and temporary labour from MGNREGA or other schemes. Otherwise, the grain will go bad, and farmers will bear the loss. It's high time the administration wakes
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