Farmers in Tiruvallur district have embarked on a new mission. Through the Farmer Producer Groups (FPG) they have been supporting those with no source of income and daily wage earners in their village, by providing rice and vegetables.
There are close to 50 FPGs in Tiruvallur district and each one has close to 100 members. “Though our funds are limited, we wanted to help those suffering without food. Hence we identified people in our four villages in Gummidipoondi block and provided them with essential supplies,” said N. Gopi, president, FPG Melakazhani.
Similar was the initiative by the Kalambakkam FPG. “The rice and other products will last for close to 10 days. This is a small contribution from our side. Soon, we will procure vegetables and fruits from Koyambedu market and will be distributing it to villagers at the wholesale price and without profit,” said G. Dhanavel, president, Kalambakkam FPG.
DPC, a boon for farmers
Meanwhile, farmers in Tiruvallur district claim that the Direct Procurement Centre (DPC), has come as a boon for farmers in Tiruvallur district as the number of traders coming to purchase paddy from them has reduced drastically due to the COVID-19 crisis.
Close to 1 lakh metric tonnes of rice is produced in Tiruvallur district and out of this, around 15,000 metric tonnes is collected through the DPC and close to 20,000 metric tonnes is sold through the Regulated Market Committee, under the Agri Marketing Department, in Tirutani, Tiruvallur, Uthukottai and Red Hills. Apart from this, some farmers sell the paddy to the traders directly in mandis.
However owing to movement restrictions during the lockdown, traders are not coming to purchase the paddy. “Even if they come, they are quoting very low prices. The DPC procures one 75-kg bag of fine varieties for ₹1,428 and ₹1,398 for coarse varieties. The traders quote ₹900. On an average, farmers sell 35 bags and they earn a profit of ₹10,000 from the DPC,” said Mr. Dhanavel.
The DPC has so far procured 5,000 tonnes of rice in the past 20 days in the nine centres in Tiruvallur district -- Red Hills, Uthukottai, Puliyur, Punnavalam, Periyakalambakkam, Kalambakkam, Perambakkam and three centres in Aamur, Vellavedu and Kadambathur block, said G. Pandian, Deputy Director, Agriculture, Tiruvallur district.
