Fair trade is always given the top priority in the product market. In Kerala, the area of ​​paddy fields has decreased significantly in the last three decades. There was a time when rice was cultivated on nine or ten lakh hectares across the state. Paddy cultivation dwindled to barely two lakh hectares as paddy cultivation became unprofitable and large amounts of paddy fields began to be cleared for other purposes. The current approach of the government can only lead to the gradual diminishing of remaining paddy lands in the state. The farmers will think about the next crop only if the government procures the paddy that reaches the field in the maiden harvest after paying its price. Unfortunately, all sorts of problems regarding the procurement of rice arise in the state right from the time of harvest. Earlier mills and traders used to collect rice directly from the farmers. Seeing the farmers getting exploited by the mill owners and traders, the government started directly procuring paddy. In the early days, the procurement was done more or less successfully. Later, the farmers started facing difficulty as the price of paddy was not paid on time. At one point, the government had handed over rice procurement to Supplyco. Last year, Supplyco failed to pay paddy prices on time. A huge agitation had taken place as many farmers did not get their money on time.

It is learnt that there is confusion at the government level as to who should be entrusted with rice procurement this time. The government owes a huge amount as arrears to Supplyco on various items. The government will have to pay at least some of this money if it wants Supplyco to procure the paddy. The government, however, is facing a financial crisis to such an extent that it has no money to pay anyone. Although the issue of rice procurement has already been discussed several times at the government level, no decision has been reached so far. The ministerial committee appointed for this also discussed the issue the other day. Not only was there no decision, but it also led to a dispute between the finance minister and the agriculture and food ministers, according to reports. Supplyco had borrowed Rs 2,500 crore from banks to procure paddy last year. Although Supplyco sought government assistance to settle this, there was no favourable reaction from the government. The Agriculture Department wants to hand over the responsibility of rice procurement to Supplyco itself this year as well. However, the government is being forced to look out for other options as it has realised that it will not get any help from the bank in the arrears issue. That is how the government started thinking that procurement should be done by primary cooperative societies. But the ministers in charge of agriculture and food departments are against this proposal. They are of the opinion that Supplyco should be handed over the responsibility of rice procurement. They are justifying their opinion by pointing out that Supplyco has prior knowledge and expertise in the matter and can handle things without difficulty. However, the government is not in favour of this. The department's ministers allegedly raised their voices when they saw the government attempting to prevent Supplyco—which is mired in debt—from being given the task of procuring rice.

A decision should be taken as soon as possible without prolonging the dispute between the ministers on the issue of rice procurement. The farmers will suffer if it takes longer to make the decision. Not only the farmers but also the government needs to be aware of the loss that can occur if there is no one to collect the harvested paddy. Such approaches only serve to discourage more farmers from paddy cultivation.