Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru (SS)
Mangaluru, Jul 25: The government needs to double up its efforts to buy sufficient quantity of boiled rice if the commodity has to be distributed under the public distribution system in the coastal district.
As per the Kerala model, the distribution of boiled rice through the PDS has hit a roadblock as the government of Karnataka has to immediately announce a support price and start a procurement centre to distribute the commodity.
Boiled rice is cultivated in 9,435 hectares of land in Dakshina Kannada and 29,726 hectares in Udupi districts. About 2,500 lac quintals of the commodity is produced. If boiled rice has to be distributed in the coastal districts, a quantity of at least 1 lac quintal of the commodity is required per month which translates to 12 lac quintals of the commodity annually. To meet this distribution need, the district has to import the commodity from Belagavi, Chamarajanagar, Hassan, Shivamogga or even the neighbouring states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Telangana.
The government of Karnataka had announced a support price for paddy in December 2021 which was insufficient for the farmers of the coastal districts. According to Oswal Fernandes, president of Dakshina Kannada Raitha Sangha, the farmers reap the harvest in September but the stocks of the commodity remain in the godowns for months together without getting the support price thus helping the farmers of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
The Centre raised the support price for paddy to Rs 2040 from Rs 1940 while Kerala has announced another Rs 840 as additional support price and is buying the produce from the farmers thus paying them to the tune of Rs 2840 a quintal.
As the government of Karnataka is not paying adequate support price the same commodity gets sold to rice mill owners in Kerala.
Farmers feel that if an adequate quantity of boiled rice has to be made available under the PDS, the government of Karnataka has to announce an additional support price by September end and start a procurement centre.