By T.Ramakrishnan/The Hindu
Chennai, October 29 – The Cauvery delta, located in the central part of Tamil Nadu and regarded as the rice bowl of south India, is in the limelight, though for all the wrong reasons.
Thanks to the bumper harvest during the short-term Kuruvai season (June-September), the arrivals of paddy at Direct Purchase Centres (DPCs), set up by the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC) for procurement, has shot up this time to such an extent that there are reports of paddy bags being kept in serpentine queues. Naturally, this has left farmers worried about preserving grain in view of the rains.
Before getting into the nitty-gritty of the problem, let us take a look at the importance of the delta, which was once the seat of power during imperial Cholas.
The region encompasses 10 districts of Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Mayiladuthurai, Ariyalur, Perambalur, Tiruchi, Karur, Pudukottai, and Cuddalore.
Generally, the region accounts for one-third of the State’s rice production. Also, it contributes two-thirds of paddy procured by the TNCSC annually. For instance, of the five-year average of 43 lakh tonnes, the region’s share is around 29 lakh tonnes.
Politically, the region has been a traditional bastion of the DMK, although the AIADMK has been trying to dislodge it.
To address the concerns of the farmers, the DMK government, on October 19, wrote to the Union government requesting it to relax the limit of moisture content of paddy from 17% to 22%. Three days later, the AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami made a sudden visit to the region to highlight the State government’s “failure.”
This forced the ruling party to depute Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin to the delta next day to demonstrate that the situation was under control.
The problem is not new to the region. Some of the causes are well known. These include increasing dependence of farmers on the TNCSC for selling their produce, reluctance of private traders to buy paddy harvested during the Kuruvai season in view of higher moisture content, inadequate number of DPCs and the lack of infrastructure for storage.
However, the current bumper harvest has worsened the situation. Against the normal coverage of around four lakh acres, more than six lakh acres were brought under paddy. With Cauvery water available in abundance, sections of farmers, who had burnt their fingers early this year by going for cotton that got damaged during heavy rain, began raising the Kuruvai paddy late. Normally, the crop gets harvested by September end, latest by October first week. But this year, the operation is still on. Rain has aggravated the problem, making higher moisture content inevitable.
The Union government comes into the picture as State governments procure paddy and wheat on its behalf. It is the States’ responsibility to store and distribute the grains in line with the Centre’s policies. The Union government meets the cost of procurement, apart from monitoring the quality of foodgrain procured. Farmers are paid the Minimum Support Price (MSP) fixed by the Centre. Besides, some States including Tamil Nadu pay incentive to farmers.
Since the Central norms govern procurement, States have to comply with them. Generally, the moisture content is allowed up to 17%, which is measured through moisture meters, available at the DPCs, railheads, godowns, and modern rice mills. The Centre can relax the norms, if any State asks for it, citing factors beyond their control. In the past, the Union government waived the stipulations for States such as Andhra Pradesh and Punjab.
In the last couple of days, the Centre’s officials went around the State to assess the moisture content of the paddy before making a recommendation on the issue.
Going by the Central Foodgrains portal, nearly 10.8 lakh tonnes were procured from all over the State up to October 27 through 1,861 DPCs. This was about 2.5 times the procurement made in the last two years. Over 1.2 lakh farmers were paid ₹2,554 crore towards MSP. The estimated quantity of paddy to be procured for the season is nearly 24 lakh tonnes.
To ensure that the problem does not recur as the long-term Samba crop will be due for harvest from mid-January, the Tamil Nadu government should not only strengthen the storage infrastructure but also see to it that there exists proper coordination among all stakeholders, including farmers and the Railways, which play a key role in moving paddy from DPCs to storage points or hulling units.
The authorities should identify sites for temporary DPCs, apart from making available all materials for preserving the procured paddy. The government should also contemplate roping in farmer producer organisations (FPOs) and self-help groups (SHGs), some of which are even now running fair price shops. This can be modelled on the lines of the National Co-operative Consumers’ Federation with the co-operative societies being allowed to procure paddy in non-delta areas.
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