Paddy procurement crisis likely to resurface in Punjab this season

The state is set to witness a repeat of the paddy procurement crisis during this kharif marketing season. Like last year, the rice millers in the state have indicated that they may not be able mill the hybrid varieties of paddy, even as the Punjab and Haryana High Court quashed the state government’s blanket ban on such varieties yesterday.

“A conflict-like situation may once again arise between farmers and rice millers. Why should we suffer losses on milling these paddy varieties? The out-turn ratio (OTR) of rice from paddy given to millers is 67 per cent, but the broken rice in hybrid varieties is 43-45 per cent. So, millers have to buy rice from the market and give 66 per cent milled rice to the government,” Ranjit Singh Josan, vice-president of Punjab Rice Millers Industry told The Tribune.

The millers say that within a month, paddy will start arriving in the mandis, and they are likely to refuse to store hybrid paddy at their mills, fearing heavy financial losses. This could lead to unrest among farmers, who may stage agitations, if their hybrid paddy is not purchased at the minimum support price. “We appeal to the state government to intervene immediately and find a meaningful solution to avoid conflict between farmers and millers,” he said.

It is learnt that the state government, sensing a looming crisis, is considering filing a Letters Patent Appeal (LPA) against the HC order. It was pressure by the rice milling industry that the state government had imposed a ban on the use of hybrid seeds — both notified and non-notified.

Last year, the rice millers had refused to mill the hybrid and PUSA-44 varieties, saying these produced a much higher percentage of broken grains during milling, as compared to other paddy varieties.

After the millers refused to mill the paddy, the Centre dispatched a team of experts from the IIT-Kharagpur to verify their claims. That team, according to officials in state Agriculture Department, had also concluded that the percentage of broken grains was higher in the hybrid varieties. The rice millers were now seeking a copy of that report. It was after nearly a month-long standoff between the farmers, the government and the rice industry that the millers agreed to mill the hybrid paddy varieties, after imposing cuts on the price paid to farmers cultivating these varieties.

This year, 32.49 lakh hectares of land is under paddy cultivation, of which 6.81 lakh hectares is under basmati varieties.

Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian said he was currently seeking legal advice on the HC decision. He said the real problem was the procurement of hybrid varieties of paddy, so the Centre should ensure the procurement of hybrid varieties and ensure that the farmers did not face any difficulty in selling the crop.

Seed industry welcomes court verdict

Ajai Rana, Chairman, Federation of Seed Industry of India and MD & CEO, Savannah Seeds, said the seed industry had welcomed the court verdict

“Hybrid rice delivers 5-6 quintal higher yield per acre, matures faster, conserves up to 30 per cent water through DSR technique, and lowers emissions,” said Rana.

“All notified hybrids have undergone rigorous ICAR trials and meet national milling standards, including FCI’s 67 per cent out-turn ratio, ensuring farmer confidence in their quality,” he added.