Paddy procurement delayed; farmers suffer 

3 January 2012

biswabrata goswami
MIDNAPORE, 3 JAN: Farmers in West Midnapore district are spending sleepless nights due to the delay in paddy procurement by the government. So far, the district administration has failed to achieve its target of paddy procurement.
The government had decided to procure 3 lakh metric tons of paddy in the district. But, the district administration has, however, been able to procure only 1.5 lakh quintals so far.
“Though it was decided that the procurement would start from 15 November, the administration started procuring on 21 December due to a delay in administrative procedures,” said an official of the district food and supply department.
The state government has decided to procure 20 lakh metric tons of rice this season.
Mr Madan Dutta, a resident of Murakata village in the Kankabati panchayat area of Midnapore Sadar block, said: “The delayed procurement has not only prompted the farmers to sell off their produce at a price less than the minimum support price of Rs 1,080, but also resulted in drying up of their produce.”
The farmers have now formed a joint action committee to pressurise the government. “The farmers are forced to sell their paddy for anything between Rs 440 and Rs 480 per quintal to the rice mill owners, who are now pocketing the minimum support price,” a farmer alleged.
A senior district administrative official said government agencies charged with procuring paddy ~ Confed, Benfed and ECSC ~ are bankrupt. "The state government, too, is in a cash-strapped situation to procure rice directly from the farmers," he said.
"The government had also assured the agencies of being a guarantor of its bank loan. But, the problem arose as the agencies have not yet repaid their loan taken for procurement of potatos last year,” the official said.
"The state government, too, has not taken any initiative to repay the loan," said Mr Mrigen Maity, a Trinamul Congress MLA from the district. Meanwhile, a farmer said: “The minimum support price (MSP) is not enough to meet the production cost. The labour cost has gone up substantially compared to the previous year.”
Mr Narayan Chandra Nayek, the convener of the farmers’organisation, said: “Around Rs 18,000 is required to cultivate an acre of land, which produces about 20 quintals of paddy. The MSP should stand at minimum Rs 1,300 per quintal.”