Paddy procurement begins in Alappuzha

The harvest and procurement of paddy cultivated in the ‘puncha’ (first) crop has begun in Alappuzha.

According to Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation (Supplyco) and Agriculture department officials, farmers have undertaken paddy farming on around 28,800 hectares in the district, a major portion of which is in Kuttanad.

As of Saturday evening, Supplyco procured 470.7 tonnes of paddy from Takazhi, Alappuzha municipality, Karuvatta, Chunakara, among other places, in the district. “The large-scale harvest and procurement will begin next week before hitting full throttle by March 15. The process will go on till mid-May. We are expecting to procure 1,37,800 tonnes of paddy from Alappuzha in the ‘puncha’ crop season,” says Anil K. Anto, paddy marketing officer.

Farmers have already booked around 200 combine harvesters in advance for the smooth harvesting of the crop. The rental rates for harvesters have been fixed at a maximum of ₹1,900 per hour except in ‘kayal’ fields where the rate is ₹2,000. More than 50 mills are expected to take part in the procurement process in the district this season.

The procurement is done as per the registration made by farmers online. The last date for registering in the Supplyco portal is February 28.

Meanwhile, several paddy farmers in the district are yet to get the procurement price of the previous (additional/second) crop. Supplyco, which had procured 43,813 tonnes of paddy in the additional season, still owes ₹33.6 crore to farmers. The agency had procured paddy worth ₹123.55 crore from 12,873 farmers. However, it has distributed only ₹89.93 crore to 9,023 farmers as procurement price so far. Supplyco officials, meanwhile, said the distribution of the pending amount to farmers had begun and the entire dues would be cleared soon. The money is distributed through the Kerala Bank.