Paddy farmers in Kuttanad will organise protests on Thiruvonam day against inordinate delay on the part of the government in disbursing paddy procurement price.
Several farmers in the region are yet to get the price of paddy procured from them in the last ‘puncha’ (first) crop season. Farmers under Nelkarshaka Samrakshana Samithi, as part of the protest, will cook and eat rice porridge in front of the Paddy Marketing Office at Mankombu in Kuttanad on Tuesday.
Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee working president Kodikunnil Suresh, MP, will stage a protest in front of the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram on Thiruvonam day from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Several farmers from Kuttanad are expected to join him in preparing and eating rice porridge. Mr. Suresh said the government still owed ₹360 crore to paddy farmers in the State. He said the government owed around ₹99 crore to 6,748 farmers in Alappuzha district.
The government earlier fixed the procurement price of paddy at ₹28.20 per kg. This includes a minimum support price of ₹20.40 and a State incentive bonus of ₹7.80. Farmers are also entitled to get another 12 paise per kg as handling charges.
Officials of Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation (Supplyco) said that dues of small farmers (up to ₹50,000) in Alappuzha had been cleared. The rest 6,700 farmers were given 28% price of the paddy procured from them. The farmers will receive the rest of the procurement amount from banks as post-harvest credit on production of the paddy receipt sheet after the Onam holidays, said an official.
Even as the disbursal of payments for the ‘puncha’ crop season is dragging on, paddy farmers in Kuttanad are gearing up for the harvest of the additional (second) crop. Farmers have undertaken paddy farming on around 10,000 hectares in the region in the additional season.
