Millers delay payments, tillers fear domino effect in Telangana
Farmers in Nalgonda district are struggling with delayed payments from millers for superfine paddy, which has been extended to a month instead of the promised 3–7 days. This delay, combined with pending Rythu Bharosa payments, has left farmers unable to fund Rabi season crops. Despite instructions from authorities, payment delays persist, causing significant financial hardship.
NALGONDA: Farmers in Nalgonda district are agitated by the delay in payment for their produce by millers. Millers, who are supposed to pay farmers within three to seven days after buying superfine variety paddy, are now saying they will make payments within a month from the date of purchase. As a result, rice mill managers are issuing stamped bills to the farmers.
Farmers claim that the state government is yet to provide the Rythu Bharosa payment for this Kharif season. Additionally, as millers have not paid for the grain, farmers are now struggling to secure the necessary funds to plant crops for the Rabi season, which begins in the last week of November and the first week of December.
While the Union government has set the MSP for fine rice at Rs 2,320 at IKP centres and the state government has announced an additional bonus of Rs 500, many farmers are being forced to sell their rice at lower prices due to moisture content exceeding 17% and the lack of proper facilities for drying paddy drying
Additionally, with the high demand for fine rice sales and a large number of arrivals at the mills, farmers are complaining of delayed payments for the grain they have sold.
Yaragani Somaiah, a farmer from Tipparty mandal told TNIE: The Rabi season begins in the last week of November and first week of December. However, the government has not yet released the Rythu Bharosa payment for the Kharif season and there is no indication of when it may be provided for the Rabi season. I own five acres of land and the cost of cultivating each acre is Rs 15,000. I am forced to borrow money at high interest rates to fund the next season’s crops.”
Upon requests from farmers to district officials to ensure that millers make payments for the grain they have purchased, the collector instructed millers to pay farmers within a week, but in vain. Many fear that if the situation persists, it could lead to an increase in farmer suicides, as has happened in previous seasons.
In Nalgonda, fine rice was cultivated on about 3 lakh acres, yielding about 4 lakh metric tonnes. While civil supplies officials had expected 2.80 lakh metric tonnes to be delivered to IKP centres, only 650 metric tonnes had reached the 80 IKP centres set up in the district.
Speaking to TNIE over the delay in payments, a miller stated: “Farmers were not being pressured to sell their produce to them. We also informed them that if any miller pays them within one month, they can send their produce to them only. Additionally, farmers who sold their paddy 10 days ago had received payment in less than three days or a week, but due to financial constraints, we have extended the payment deadline to a month.”
District Civil Supplies Officer V Venkateshwarlu told TNIE that he has once again instructed millers to expedite payments to farmers.
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Source Link : The New Indian Express
