Hyderabad: Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Monday directed officials to intensify paddy procurement operations and protect stocks at harvest centres and market yards from unseasonal rains.
The order followed heavy summer showers that hit several districts on Sunday night. The rains damaged paddy stocks at some procurement centres. Therefore, the minister held an urgent video conference with district in-charge ministers, collectors, the Civil Supplies Commissioner and senior officials.
The meeting reviewed paddy arrivals, procurement progress and field-level problems. It also focused on faster purchases, removal of bottlenecks and safeguards for farmers facing losses from rains and heat-wave conditions.
Officials involved in Minimum Support Price operations were placed on high alert. Uttam Kumar Reddy asked them to closely monitor weather conditions. He also told officials to inform farmers about rainfall forecasts without delay.
Paddy procurement operations reviewed after district reports
Procurement reached about 14 lakh metric tonnes so far. All 8,575 Paddy Procurement Centres were fully operational. The purchases included more than 8 lakh metric tonnes of coarse varieties.
The government had already remitted more than Rs 1,365 crore into farmers’ accounts. However, the minister said MSP operations would remain crucial this month to meet the Rabi marketing season targets.
He said paddy arrivals were likely to increase in the coming days. Hence, officials had to immediately scale up purchases. He sought special attention at high-volume centres, particularly in Nalgonda and Nizamabad districts.
Unseasonal rains and strong winds drenched paddy in Nalgonda, Mahabubnagar and Khammam districts. The Nalgonda collector reported 299 metric tonnes of wet paddy at four centres. A sudden 20-minute storm had blown away tarpaulins despite prior alerts.
Similar incidents were reported from Mahabubabad, Suryapet, Khammam and Kothagudem.
Paddy procurement operations put on rain preparedness mode
Uttam Kumar Reddy directed collectors to treat protection of farmers’ produce as a top priority. He instructed officials to position tarpaulins in advance at every procurement centre.
He said the arrangements must follow daily morning weather alerts. Moreover, officials were told to prepare for continued unseasonal rains over the next three to four days.
The minister asked the district administration and civil supplies machinery to take every possible precaution. He said farmers should not suffer losses because of delays in procurement or poor protection of harvested paddy.
