Procurement ops hit as millers again refuse to store paddy

CM to meet Union food minister on Oct 14 to discuss millers and arhtiyas’ issues
Amid the paddy procurement, the state rice millers have once again refused to store grain on their premises for milling. This has sent the procurement agencies, which are expecting a glut of paddy from next week, into a tizzy.
The Punjab Rice Millers Association last Saturday had called off their stir after a meeting with chief minister Bhagwant Mann after the state acceded to most of their demands. But now, the millers are up in arms again and have refused to sign contracts for milling and storage of the paddy raising concern over the rice yield of PR126 variety of paddy which they allege will not meet the Food Corporation of India’s procurement norms leading to huge losses to millers.
The rice millers, farmer unions and commission agents are set to hold a stir on Sunday for three hours in Punjab over their demands.
Punjab Rice Millers Association president Tarsem Saini alleged that procurement agencies used police force to get the paddy stored on mill premises in Kapurthala and Rupnagar districts despite protests by the mill owners.
“As our demands have not been met and there is serious concern about more breakage of rice in PR 126 variety of paddy, the millers have refused to sign a contract for milling. For the convenience of farmers for paddy procurement, we have offered our mill space for storage, but the responsibility of storage (quality and quantity) will remain with the government, not with the millers”, Saini said, adding that the government has failed to resolve their genuine concerns.
Saini explained that besides space constraints and the lifting of rice by FCI, the outturn ratio (OTR) of hybrid varieties is a major concern. “We have requested that scientific studies be conducted to ascertain the actual OTR (ratio of paddy to rice conversion), until then we will not do milling” Saini said adding that last year also the millers suffered huge losses.
“For every 100 quintals of paddy, millers are required to return 67 quintals of rice to the government agencies and in case the yield is less the millers are supposed to cover losses. The new varieties have more breakage of rice, thus it’s a loss-making for millers,” Saini added.
With millers up in arms, the commission agents and procurement agencies have also started refusing to buy paddy.
“Till the lifting process doesn’t start, we can’t procure more paddy. We have requested the farmers to delay the harvest”, said Jagdish Raj, a commission agent in Patiala. He said that the procurement agency’s staff is also worried as the weight loss will increase with each passing day after procurement.
Paddy this season was sown over 32 lakh hectares and experts have predicted a bumper crop of 230 lakh tonnes with the state food and civil supplies fixing a target of 185 lakh tonnes for procurement. The state contributes up to 45% of paddy of the total country’s need for the PDS. Paddy procurement officially began in Punjab on October 1.
CM to meet Union minister
With the procurement hit, chief minister Bhagwant Mann spoke to the Union minister on phone today to resolve the issues of commission agents and rice millers.
He is also to meet the Union minister for food, public distribution, and consumer affairs Prahlad Joshi on Tuesday (i.e. Oct 14) to discuss the issues affecting procurement.
As per CMO officials, the CM will raise the issues of rice millers and Arhtiyas with the Union minister.
So far, 4.30 lakh metric tonnes of paddy has reached the mandis, and as per official data, 98% of the crop has been procured. The department has released ₹573.55 crore as payments to farmers, the CMO official added.