Hyderabad: The Telangana Civil Supplies Corporation is trying innovative methods to address several chronic issues affecting paddy production in the state over the past several years.
From introducing modern equipment at Paddy Procurement Centres (PPCs) to streamlining the paddy procurement process and enforcing strict measures, the Civil Supplies Corporation hopes that these initiatives will reduce losses to farmers and simplify the procurement process.
In the current Kharif 2025 marketing season, the Civil Supplies Corporation is estimating the procurement of 75 lakh tonnes of paddy from the total production, which is estimated at 159 lakh tonnes.
Addressing the media at Civil Supplies Bhavan at Irrum Manzil on Tuesday, 23 September, Civil Supplies Commissioner and Principal Secretary of the Consumer Affairs, Food & Civil Supplies Department, DS Chauhan, detailed the steps being taken this season to ensure a hassle-free paddy procurement.
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The risk of rains
One of the problems faced during both the Rabi and Kharif seasons is sudden rainfall in October and November, which coincides with the peak procurement period. Paddy getting soaked in the rain has been a recurring issue over the years.
The workaround to this issue is the way paddy will be wrapped with tarpaulin sheets from base to top and top to base, creating a blanket effect inside, which maintains the temperature and prevents water seepage.
District procurement committees, headed by the collector, have been given a free hand to purchase additional tarpaulin sheets if the demand rises.
According to DS Chauhan, every morning, the in-charge of the PPC will receive the rain forecast, which helps them prepare to protect the paddy arriving at the centre. Farmers will also receive alerts on their mobile phones.
Moisture content and wastage issues in paddy
To ensure that paddy of the required quality and moisture content is delivered to the PPCs in accordance with Fair Average Quality (FAQ) norms, machinery such as automatic paddy cleaners, automatic paddy driers, digital grain callipers, and husk removers is being stationed at certain PPCs.
According to DS Chauhan, Telangana has become the first state to customise and procure machinery to the required specifications, which is now being emulated by Karnataka and other states.
He assured that the automatic paddy cleaner can help reduce moisture content by 2 per cent, while also lowering labour costs, as it vacuums the paddy efficiently.
He also pointed out that the automatic paddy drier can reduce moisture content from 25 per cent to 17–18 per cent.
The digital grain callipers will determine whether the grains brought to PPCs are fine or coarse.
He said that 50 per cent of gunny bags have already been stationed at the PPCs, and this season steps are being taken to prevent pilferage. In addition, efforts are being made to recover old gunny bags from rice millers.
The Legal Metrology Department will check all weighing equipment before 1 October and certify their compliance with standards. Even during procurement, Legal Metrology officials will visit at least 2–3 PPCs daily to ensure that measuring devices are accurate.
To reduce the burden on farmers in paying for the services of hamalis during the lifting of paddy bags, the Civil Supplies Corporation will bear Rs 29 per farmer, which will be given directly to the hamali.
The problem of heavy quantities arriving at PPCs at once
DS Chauhan explained that, in a bid to save diesel and complete harvesting quickly, those providing harvesting services were not following certain standards. For example, harvesting before the grain fully matures results in quality and moisture norms not being met, making it difficult to remove moisture and causing losses to farmers.
Furthermore, hasty harvesting leads to large quantities of paddy arriving at PPCs simultaneously, creating procurement delays.
To address this, strict standard operating procedures have been implemented, including onboarding harvester owners. These include keeping the blower of the harvester active, maintaining the repetitions per minute (RPM) between 18–20, keeping gear snouts at A2 to B1, and having Agricultural Extension Officers (AEOs) monitor harvester movements.
He said efforts will be made to schedule farmers’ arrivals at PPCs according to paddy turnaround.
In addition to maintaining strict vigilance at inter-state check-posts to prevent paddy from other states, CCTVs have been installed to monitor vehicle and paddy flow.
He also stated that there will be no direct interface between farmers and rice millers, as truck sheets will be generated at PPCs before the produce reaches mills.
He added that a grievance redressal mechanism is being implemented at PPCs for farmers, along with mandal, sub-division, and district-level escalation systems for PPCs and rice millers to resolve issues.
He noted that rice millers will be allocated paddy for custom milling based on performance rather than preferential treatment, meaning millers supplying custom-milled rice efficiently will be allotted more quantities according to performance.
Regarding the recovery of rice not delivered by rice millers from the 2022–23 marketing season, he said that of the Rs 6,996 crore due for recovery, Rs 4,000 crore has been recovered from the millers, with an additional Rs 536 crore coming through paddy auctions and exports to the Philippines.
“This is a performance-based, systematic, and transparent approach which will address the issues of the past,” he said.
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