Farmers Enter 'Chingam' Without Full Paddy Procurement Payments

Palakkad: Farmers have entered Chingam 1, observed as both the Malayalam New Year and Farmers’ Day, without receiving the full procurement price for their paddy. Even months after their paddy was procured, the entire amount has not reached the farmers.

The UDF government has cheated farmers by releasing only the state’s share. Even this amount is insufficient to pay half of the farmers. The previous LDF government had paid farmers the full amount by also releasing the Centre’s share. Even when the Centre’s share remained pending for more than five years, amounting to around ₹2,000 crore, farmers were not affected.

The UDF government has also disrupted the distribution of paddy procurement payments through cooperative societies, which has further affected farmers.

Although vegetable prices are rising in the market, farmers who cultivated vegetables on a large scale in the district’s Muthalamada, Chittur, Vadavannur and Nenmara regions targeting the Onam market are not benefiting from the higher prices. Inefficient procurement through the government agencies Horticorp and VFPCK is causing difficulties for farmers. The non-allocation of operational funds to VFPCK in this year’s Budget and the reduction in funds for local self-government institutions have also adversely affected farmers.

Farmers who bring their vegetables directly to markets are also routinely exploited by middlemen, who offer them very low prices. For instance, the market price of coconut is ₹56 a kilogram, meanwhile, the farmers receive only up to ₹45.

The introduction of complicated Agri Stack registration requirements for obtaining fertilisers and pesticides has further increased farmers’ difficulties. The state government has not raised even a word against the Centre’s scheme.

The benefits of the high market prices of vegetables such as plantain and yam, whose demand rises during the Onam season, are going to traders and suppliers from neighbouring states such as Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, rather than local farmers.