Government ropes in Oil Palm India for paddy procurement
With rice mills refusing paddy from Kuttanad citing poor quality, Kerala has tasked Oil Palm India to procure the crop. Over 90,000 tonnes have already been collected, with a total target of 1.28 lakh tonnes. Ministers also ordered assessment of saline water damage and heatwave insurance, as procurement continues at ₹28.20/kg until end of May.
The State government has roped in Oil Palm India to procure paddy from Kuttanad polders. The move comes after rice mills refused to procure paddy from several polders, citing poor grain quality.
Agriculture Minister P. Prasad said a decision had been taken to procure the uncollected paddy from the Kuttanad region. “Oil Palm India has been entrusted with the task of procuring paddy left behind after mills, which had agreements with the Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation (Supplyco), refused to procure it, citing quality issues,” the Minister said.
Supplyco is responsible for procuring paddy cultivated in the State. Rice mills are assigned to procure and process the paddy into rice before returning it to Supplyco. This time, however, the mills showed reluctance to procure paddy from certain polders in the Kuttanad region.
The decision to assign Oil Palm India with paddy procurement was made at a high-level meeting attended by Mr. Prasad along with Food and Civil Supplies Minister G.R. Anil, Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal, Cooperation Minister V.N. Vasavan, Fisheries Minister Saji Cherian and Power Minister K. Krishnankutty recently. The meeting was held as directed by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
The meeting further directed the Principal Agriculture Officer in Alappuzha to assess the crop loss caused by the intrusion of saline water into paddy polders and determine the compensation. It also decided to ensure insurance coverage for crop losses due to the heatwave.
Farmers have cultivated paddy on around 600 polders in the district, spread across 27,000 hectares, a majority of them in Kuttanad. Despite hiccups, Supplyco has procured over 90,000 tonnes of paddy from farmers in Alappuzha so far this ‘puncha’ crop season.
Paddy procurement is done based on online registrations made by farmers. The agency is buying paddy at ₹28.20 per kg, including the minimum support price of ₹23 provided by the Union government and the State government’s ₹5.20 incentive bonus.
As per Supplyco’s assessment, 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.
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Source : The Hindu
