Nearly eight lakh tonnes of paddy procured from farmers

Nearly eight lakh tonnes of paddy has been procured from Tamil Nadu farmers by the civil supplies authorities. 

Nearly eight lakh tonnes of paddy has been procured from Tamil Nadu farmers by the civil supplies authorities. 

Naturally, the major chunk of the paddy procured — around 6.2 lakh tonnes — has been provided by the Cauvery delta districts. Thanjavur leads the pack with about two lakh tonnes, according to the data compiled by the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC) on January 30. Tiruvarur is placed next to Thanjavur, accounting for approximately 1.6 lakh tonnes; Mayiladuthurai, 85,400 tonnes; and Cuddalore, 70,500 tonnes. 

As regards the non-Cauvery delta districts, Chengalpattu leads the group with around 36,000 tonnes; Erode, 31,000 tonnes; and Tiruvallur, 23,300 tonnes. The group of districts has supplied 1.67 lakh tonnes.  

The authorities have opened around 1,680 direct purchase centres in the Cauvery delta and 480 DPCs in the rest of the State. In addition to the TNCSC, the  National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation (NCCF) has procured about 14,000 tonnes through 23 DPCs. 

For the corresponding period last year, the quantity of paddy procured was 6.05 lakh tonnes, which was close to two lakh tonnes less than the current year’s procurement. 

The farmers say the procurement is expected to pick up momentum only in February because of the delay in the harvest of the Samba crop at least by a few weeks in the delta.