THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Paddy procurement has stopped again in the state. The move to procure paddy through cooperative societies was also unsuccessful.

2500 crore which Supplyco loaned from the bank consortium against the paddy stored last season and the paddy yet to be harvested has not been paid back yet. Agreements cannot be made with cooperative societies without this being settled. The consortium agreement included paddy as collateral for the loan without any government guarantee. As long as this provision is in place, no other agency can procure paddy. The Chief Secretary will soon negotiate with the consortium to avoid this condition.

Whether the procurement is done by Supplyco or cooperatives, if the loan arrears are not cleared, the farmers will not get the money again. 534.72 crore dues from Kerala Bank also need to be settled besides the loan from the consortium.

Due since 2011

The problem can be solved if the 1014 crore dues of Supplyco for the period 2011-2022 are paid. This amount is made up of Rs 725 crore due to government allocation for procurement and Rs 289 crore as outturn ratio.

The central government system is 68 kg of rice per quintal (100 kg) of paddy. Considering the climate of Kerala, the state government has approved 64.5 kg. The mill owners do not take paddy under the central system. The outturn ratio is the financial allocation given by the state government to SupplyCo to meet the shortfall of 3.5 kg. Government has not paid the full amount from 2011 to October 2022 for either of these. Not a single paisa was paid from October 2022 to October 2023. Efforts are being made to get financial assistance from the primary groups and Kerala Bank to pay for the procured rice.

Farmers were denied increased central allocation

Currently, the price of paddy is Rs 28.20 per kg. Of this, the central share is Rs.20.40 crore. The state share is Rs 7.80 crore. Even though the Center has increased it by Rs 1.43, this has not taken effect in Kerala. The move is to reduce the state share by calculating the amount increased by the Centre. As a result, the procurement price will remain at Rs 28.20