Karimnagar: Farmers in dilemma over paddy procurement
A farmer dries paddy on the road at a village in Karimnagar district
Karimnagar: Paddy harvest piles are appearing on the roads all over erstwhile Karimnagar district farmers as buyers refused to buy the product due to the high moisture content in the paddy.
Lack of drying platforms is also a reason for drying paddy on the roads near villages. The Telangana government had earlier planned to undertake the construction of the drying platforms in the State.
In the district, not even 20 per cent of the platforms were constructed. It is expected that a harvest of 10 lakh metric tonnes of paddy in four districts this time. So far only 20 metric tonnes of grain have been procured.
As a result, farmers are forced to wait at the grain piles on the roads. As the centre denied buying paddy, farmers are in a dilemma and unsure whether cultivated crops in Yasangi will be procured or not. Farmers are also troubled as unseasonal rains dampen the produce.
In the Karimnagar district, paddy is cultivated in about 2,72,851 acres in Kharif. Yields are estimated at 20,000 metric tonnes. A total of 351 purchasing centres have been opened while purchasing started in 260 centres.
In the Jagtial district, 235000 acres of paddy has been cultivated and the yield is estimated at 1,57,000 lakh metric tonnes. A total of 382-grain purchasing centres were set up. So far 237 centres have been launched.
In the Peddapalli district, one lakh metric tonnes of yield is expected. For this 292-grain purchasing centres have been set up. In Rajanna Sircilla district, paddy is cultivated in 1.73 lakh acres and the grain yield is estimated at four lakh metric tonnes. A total of 263 purchasing centres were set up. So far 214 hubs have opened while purchases continue to be sluggish. Speaking to The Hans India a farmer Koppula Mogulayya of Kishtampeta in Peddapalli district said paddy has been harvested about 20 days back. "I do not know how long it will take for the paddy to be procured. We do not know when it will rain and there are no platforms to dry and no tarpaulin covers paddy" he said.