Chennai: Chief minister M K Stalin on Saturday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to double the state’s rice procurement target from 16 lakh tonnes to 32 lakh tonnes for the kharif season, citing sharp rise in yield and the need to ensure uninterrupted procurement and timely payment to farmers.Tamil Nadu cultivated paddy on 20.50 lakh hectares this season and yield was good due to timely release of water from Mettur dam, favourable weather, improved irrigation, expanded acreage, and adoption of high-yield varieties, the chief minister said. He recalled that he had written on Nov 17 last year that the procurement target should align with the state’s actual production.Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation and the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India Ltd had procured 36.63 lakh tonnes of paddy as of March 12, up from 24.17 lakh tonnes during the same period last year. This had far exceeded the Centre’s 16 lakh tonnes cap, Stalin said.Procurement was continuing at around 50,000 tonnes a day and was projected to total 47.50 lakh tonnes, equivalent to 32 lakh tonnes of rice, Stalin said and urged the Centre to issue “priority instructions” to revise the target to avoid disruptions for farmers.
