Farmers feel cheated as fine & coarse grains get same price

Nizamabad: The announcement of procurement of paddy by the State government brought smiles to the faces of farmers, but at the same time, it caused a lot of concern among some of them in Nizamabad and Kamaredyy districts.

In these districts, the farmers who cultivated the thin varieties of paddy are being cheated by agents and traders.

Both coarse and fine varieties of paddy are priced at the same rate. Farmers are suffering for not getting the expected price in the market for the thin grain. Brokers form syndicates and buy from farmers at low prices.

The government had encouraged the farmers to cultivate the thin variety of rice stating that there was a good demand for quality rice in the open markets. Therefore, the farmers cultivated a fine variety of rice on thousands of acres in Yasangi. They overcame many hardships and took loans for meeting the high input cost. But now the crop is harvested, and their fine variety paddy is given same price as the coarse variety paddy.

The government has announced a support price of Rs 1,450 and Rs 1,960 respectively for the coarse and average qualitypaddy.

The brokers are buying the thin variety of grain from farmers at a cheaper price right in the fields. Farmers are worried that they would not be able to get even the production cost of the fine rice. The farmers in Yasangi cultivated the fine variety paddy on over 60,000 acres in Kamareddy district and 83,000 acres in Nizamabad.

In Kamareddy district, farmers in Banswada, Nasrullabad, Birkur, Bichkunda, Nagireddypeta, Ellareddy, Lingampeta and other mandals have mostly cultivated the fine paddy.

The officials of the Department of Agricultural Economic Statistics have estimated that 1.47 lakh metric tonnes of paddy will be harvested in Kamareddy and 2.5 lakh metric tonnes in Nizamabad district during the season.

However, due to the cunningness of traders and brokers and apathy of officials, the support price for the thin variety of paddy in the district is declining.

Banswada, Nasrullabad and Birkurmandals in Banswada constituency have been cultivating BPT-95 thin variety of paddy along with RNR, Bapatla and Ganga Cauvery for BPT during the Yasangi season this year. In Rabi, farmers who harvested the fine varietypaddy earned profits ranging from Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,120 depending on the fair average quality. This time too, the farmers were expecting good profits from the fine variety of paddy.

Now, farmers are concerned that if they store paddy at home, the interest on loans taken for the cultivation will increase. Farmers in Nizamabad and Kamareddy districts are criticising the Marketing department officials for indirectly assisting the traders. "Beeti"(auction) are to be maintained in the market yards as soon as the paddy harvest begins. Beeti is not done yet. The price is the same at the 450 purchase centers set up by the government in Nizamabad district. The fine grain gets the same price as that of the coarse grain. Thefine type grain is considered under grade 2 type.

The farmers allege that there is indirect support to traders due to the demand for thin varieties of grain in the open market. Traders from Hyderabad, Miryalaguda, Karnataka, Gujarat and other States are buying and transporting quality thin rice from Nizamabad district to other States. In Kamareddy district, brokers in Birkur, Nasrullabad, Banswada and Bichkundamandals have set up special shops and are openly procuring grain for other State rice millers.

The farmers say that no action will be taken against those who pay the fine for the same price as for the coarse grain.