With paddy being cultivated only in 16,098 acres (6,515 hectares) during rabi in Anantapur district and in an insignificant extent in Sri Sathya Sai district, three procurement centres have been opened in the mandals of Kannekal, D. Hirehal, and Bommanahal, where the crop is grown most.
With no paddy miller in Anantapur district, the entire crop procured has to be sent to Chittoor district for milling.
This year, the preferred varieties are commanding a price more than the Minimum Support Price of ₹1,960 per quintal. As a result, the farmers are selling their produce in the open market.
In Kurnool and Nandyal districts, the target is to procure 2,500 tonnes and 3,000 tonnes of paddy respectively. But no procurement was done so far, said Civil Supplies officials of the respective districts.
The dues of the farmers who had sold their crop at the procurement centres in the undivided Anantapur and Kurnool districts had been paid till the last kharif season, the officials said.
Anantapur district was given a procurement target of 2,500 tonnes of paddy, but there was hardly anyone coming to the first procurement centre opened at Kannekal.
“The cost of transporting the paddy from Anantapur to Chittoor for milling is higher than the per quintal MSP given to the farmers. We get only meager quantities, that too coloured or damaged paddy, due to recent rains,” said Civil Supplies District Manager Venkateswarlu. The total procurement during last kharif was just 4,800 tonnes in Anantapur district.
