Farmers who had arrived at Pondicherry Cooperative Marketing Society in Thattanchavady on Friday to sell paddy went on a protest demanding a fixed price for their produce.
Many took back their produce without selling them to the merchants at the Cooperative Marketing Society as the prices went down.
A sack of paddy was priced at Rs. 650 on Friday, which was earlier sold at rates between Rs. 950 and Rs. 1,000 per sack.
“The price of paddy has come down to the rate of rice husk. We sell a sack of rice husk for Rs. 650. There is no fixed price for paddy. It depends on the number of quantity of paddy arrived for sale and the price which the merchants decide. There is no proper mechanism to monitor the price of the produce. The government has to fix a price for the paddy. Otherwise, the farmers will have to incur loss,” said Veerappan, a farmer.
Farmers from Ariyankuppam and Nonankuppam expressed their frustration over the delay in the payment for their produce. “We are paid only if the cost is less than Rs. 10,000. Otherwise, we are asked to collect the money from the merchants after a week. We have to go in search of the merchants’ place. Earlier, we would collect the payment at the Cooperative Marketing Society. The system has changed over the past one year,” added another farmer from Ariyankuppam.
However, officials at the Cooperative Marketing Society said there was an increase in paddy produce due to rains last year. Hence, the prices have come down. Every day, at least 800 to 1000 sacks of paddy arrive for sale. Each sack contains 75 kg of paddy.
Shortage of sacks
Because of shortage of sacks farmers had to wait for long. “We have been waiting since Thursday night. We would have finished the business by 9 a.m on Friday and returned home. But, due to the shortage of sacks we have to stay till late evening. Only after protests, they got the sacks,” said Gunasekaran, a farmer from Tamil Nadu.
The officials of the Cooperative Marketing Society stated they usually get 800 sacks of paddy.
“But, it has increased to 1,900 and we did not have the requisite sacks. We had to bring it from Cuddalore. Therefore, it got delayed,” said the official.
Many of them took home their produce as the price on Friday was Rs. 650 per sack
