PALAKKAD: The wide disparity in the price of paddy in the open market and the minimum support price (MSP) announced by the government has turned out to be a boon for many. A good number of farmers and traders in the district have been making profit illegally by selling paddy brought from Tamil Nadu to the Supplyco.While the open market price of paddy is Rs 9 a kilogram, the minimum support price announced by the government is Rs 15.“When the malpractice was noticed, the corporation decided to restrict the procurement of paddy to 2,200 kg per acre from the earlier ceiling of 2,400 kg,” said Joe, Supplyco paddy marketing officer of Chittur taluk. “The ceiling of 2,200 kg of paddy per acre is reasonable. It is only in the taluks of Alathur, Chittur and Malampuzha that the yield is around 2,000 to 2,400 kg per acre and in areas such as Ottapalam and Mannarkad it is only around 1,500 kilograms from an acre,” said the general secretary of the Desiya Karshaka Samajam, Muthalamthode Mani. “Most often the traders indulge in the malpractice with the connivance of the officials of the Civil Supplies Corporation. We are ready to take more than 2,200 kilograms per acre, provided the farmer brings a certificate from the Agriculture officer at the Krishibhavan,” he said. “Now,the Supplyco has three paddy marketing officers and three to four assistants in every taluk. Since there is enough manpower this season we are vigilant against malpractices,” said Joe.This season there was a record procurement of second crop paddy. The Supplyco has already procured around 35,000 metric tonnes and by the end of the season it would touch 1.25 lakh metric tonnes. However, the farmers this time have not been paid the money for the paddy procured. Of the MSP of Rs 15 per kilogram, the Centre has to contribute Rs 10.80 and the state the remaining Rs 4.20 per kg. The Central Government owed a sum of Rs 270 crore to the Supplyco and it is felt that Rs 70 crore would be allotted in the next three to four days . The state government has not chanelled any funds this season and it owed `74 crore last season itself.“In the previous seasons , the funds would exhaust only in the middle of the procurement period ,but this time even the farmers whose paddy had been procured in the initial period are yet to get their payment,” Mani said.
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