With cultivation hit in delta and paddy supply dwindling, price of rice soars

Rice prices in Tiruchi increase due to short supply of paddy from cultivating centres in TN & Karnataka.

Price of rice in Tiruchi continues to register an increase due to short supply of paddy from the cultivating centres.

Tiruchi, which has a number of rice mills in Manachanallur, Ariyamangalam and Kattur, gets paddy from Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam and other areas in the Cauvery delta. Besides them, the mills receive paddy from Karnataka. There are traders who procure rice from various parts of Karnataka and market it as Karnataka Ponni, a fine rice variety. The prices, which were under control until the same period in 2022, began to increase about eight months ago.

According to market sources, 1 kg of RNR variety, popularly known as Karnataka Ponni, was sold at ₹46 in January. It was quoted between ₹55 and ₹60 per kg in retail markets on Sunday. Similarly, the price of Manachanallur Ponni (one-year-old variety) is hovering around ₹65 a kg. The rate of common rice varieties (big in size) has gone up in the wholesale market from ₹46 a kg to ₹51 a kg. Traders cite short supply from the cultivating centres, both in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, for the rise in prices in the State. It is said that supply has been dwindling from the delta region for the last few months. Similarly, supply from Karnataka has come down, resulting in a gap between demand and supply.

Farmers had largely not gone for the second paddy crop this year because of the northeast monsoon playing truant. The traders expect that there will be an acute short supply of paddy from the delta districts as a majority of farmers from Tiruchi to Nagapattinam and Mayiladuthurai have not taken up paddy (samba season) cultivation.

“It is a tough time for all the stakeholders, mainly farmers, mill owners and consumers. We could not operate our mills to their capacity because of the short supply of paddy. The prices have gone up by about 20%, compared to the corresponding period last year. It is a rare phenomenon,” says M. Sivanandam, president, Manachanallur Taluk Rice Mill Owners Association.

He said rice mills and traders in the region would have to depend on supply from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana to meet the demand for popular varieties such as Ponni until the next samba season in 2024-25. The prices might increase further.