Farmers, mills at loggerheads over paddy procurement in Kerala’s Kuttanad

Friction between farmers and mills in Kuttanad over discounts for discoloured paddy, impacting procurement and quality in Alappuzha in Kerala

Mills demanding discounts to procure harvested paddy citing discolouration, high chaff content and shrivelled grains have led to friction between farmers and agents of mills at various places in Kuttanad in Alappuzha, Kerala.

At Thayamkary, Changankary and Nedumudi, among other places in the region, harvested paddy has been lying on the polders for several days, awaiting procurement. Farmers said that in some cases agents were demanding a discount of 2.5 kg or more per quintal of paddy.

Meanwhile, officials of the Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation (Supplyco) said that several mills had submitted letters declining to procure paddy from certain polders citing poor quality rice. “The discount is not the main issue in most cases. The overall quality of paddy this ‘puncha’ season is slightly below compared to the previous seasons. Harvested paddy is lying on several fields in the region because mills are reluctant to procure it. We have informed the head office and are awaiting a response,” said a Supplyco official.

Farmers have undertaken paddy farming on around 600 paddy polders in Alappuzha district, spread across 26, 414 hectares, a majority of them in Kuttanad during the ‘puncha’ season. At present, 51 mills are engaged in paddy procurement.

Supplyco has so far procured 5,169.95 tonnes of paddy from the district. Officials said that 18.7% of the total cultivated area had been harvested. The standoff between farmers and mills comes as large-scale harvesting and procurement are set to hit full throttle in the coming days. Around 350 polders are expected to go under combine harvesters in March and another 150 in April.

Farmers said that high salinity levels in waterbodies had affected paddy cultivation in several places, leading to a lower yield. In recent weeks, salinity levels in some areas exceeded 2 ppt, the allowable limit for rice cultivation.

As per the initial assessment by Supplyco, 1,28,357.94 tonnes of paddy is expected to be procured from Alappuzha in the ‘puncha’ season. Procurement is expected to continue until the end of May.