After an initial delay, procurement of paddy cultivated in the additional (second) crop season in Alappuzha is expected to begin from Monday.
Officials of the Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation (Supplyco) said that a Kottayam-based mill had come forward to procure paddy.
“One mill has informed us of their willingness to procure paddy. They are expected to begin the procurement by purchasing harvested paddy kept in two polders at Karuvatta and Edathua on Monday,” said an official.
The procurement was hit after mills decided not to take paddy in protest against the government's apathy towards various issues raised by them. Farmers, meanwhile, said the single mill would soon turn out to be inadequate as largescale harvesting of paddy was set to begin in the coming days. In the 2021 additional crop season, as many as 30 mills participated in the process in the district.
Despite the threat of rain, farmers have been forced to keep the harvested paddy in polders or open at Edathua, Karuvatta and Punnapra due to a lack of proper storage facilities. Farmers have urged the government to hold talks with the mills and end the impasse.
Farmers have undertaken paddy farming on around 9, 700 hectares in the additional crop season in the district, a major portion of which is in Kuttanad. The rain and waterlogging destroyed rice plants in over 100 hectares in August. Further brown planthopper infestation and leaf blight disease were reported from fields under Kainakary, Champakulam, Edathua, Nedumudi, and Karuvatta among other Krishi Bhavans in Kuttanad in recent weeks.
As climate change accelerates, paddy cultivation in the additional crop season has been witnessing a steady decline in Kuttanad and other parts of Alappuzha since 2018. The area under cultivation in the current season fell by around 40% compared to around 15,000 hectares four years ago.
