On Saturday, a defunct building used to store junk was converted into a paddy procurement centre for the benefit of at least 15 farming villages in Anaicut taluk of Vellore.
“The building will help farmers store their paddy safely and will also help them cut down on travel cost,” said Vincent Ramesh Babu, block development officer (BDO), Anaicut taluk.
Located at the centre of farming villages in Anaicut region, it will help around 8,000 farmers. The building has a capacity to store at least 4,000 paddy bags, each weighing around 100 kg. As the godown for the Department of Civil Supplies is located on the adjacent plot of the building, officials said farmers could also store more paddy there during emergencies.
Till now, the farmers had to travel till the toll gate on Arani Road, about 10 km away, to store paddy. “In the old place near the toll gate, the main challenges were the inadequate space to store paddy and low procurement rates by wholesale rice buyers. Further, the cost of travelling from our villages to the godown was also high,” said K. Marimuthu, a farmer from Boothalur village.
On the occasion, S. Vijayakumari Kannan, president, Ussoor village panchayat, M. Perumal, panchayat secretary, farmers and residents participated.
