HYDERABAD: Notwithstanding the tall claims of the state government, the paddy procurement crisis in the state is deepening by the day. With rains looming large, farmers fear that their hard-earned produce will get damaged and are resorting to panic selling for prices far lesser than the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 1,030 per quintal fixed by the government. Farmers in the state witnessed a bumper crop this year. During the entire kharif marketing season (both kharif and rabi) for the year 2010-11, the production of rice was 140.65 lakh metric tonnes (MT) against 108.35 lakh MT last year. There was also a quantum jump in the production of rice during Rabi season 2010-11 which reached 65.62 lakh MT against last year’s production of 48.82 lakh MT.While the government aims at procuring about 90 lakh MT of the entire production, official records reveal that only 60 lakh MT of paddy has been purchased through rice millers and government agencies as on June 1. As against the Rabi production of 65.62 lakh MT, only 30 lakh MT of paddy was purchased from the farmers by the Food Corporation of India, AP State Civil Supplies Corporation, Indira Kranthi Patham women groups and the millers.Making matters worse, the millers have stopped paddy procurement in many districts as they have another four months time to achieve their targets in paddy procurement. “Like the government, the millers too are claiming that they have a storage problem which is not true. They stopped paddy purchasing as they know that farmers will resort to panic selling once the monsoon commences,” said a senior officer in the Civil Supplies department. Farmers in Karimnagar, Nalgonda and other districts have already started selling their produce for just Rs 800-Rs 850 per quintal to the millers following the recent rains.As there is a bumper production of paddy, even fine quality rice is being sold at a lesser price. Officials say that the government has no option but to wait for the Centre’s nod to export rice to neighbouring countries. “The government has no adequate storage space to purchase more paddy. It also cannot force the millers to purchase the paddy as they have time till September to fulfil their targets,” said another officer.Meanwhile, farmers are up in arms against the government for not ensuring MSP for their produce. While the government had announced Rs 1,030 MSP a quintal, farmers are paid between Rs 800 and Rs 900 by the millers. During this season, the highest price offered by millers was Rs 950 per quintal. The millers are also not willing to purchase low quality and discoloured paddy.
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