With the commencement of samba paddy harvest, farmers representatives of the district have called for the opening of adequate number of direct purchase centres (DPCs) in time to procure paddy.
Speaking at the monthly farmers grievance meeting on Friday, a cross-section of farmers demanded the opening of the adequate number of DPCs at the right time with necessary planning and logistics support.
Raising the issue at the meeting, P. Viswanathan, president, Tamilaga Eri Mattrum Attru Pasana Vivasayigal Sangam, called for opening of 200 DPCs across the district to procure paddy from farmers without any issues. He urged the Water Resources Department to ensure the release of water in all major irrigation canals such as Kattalai High Level Canal, Ayyan, Peruvalai and Uyyakondan in the district till the end of February to meet the requirements of farmers in the tail-end areas.
Ayilai Siva Suriyan, district secretary, Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam, affiliated to the Communist Party of India (Marxist), pointed out that the area of coverage had increased this samba season in the district due to availability of water and the crop had reached the harvest stage. The Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation should open the DPCs without delay. “Village administrative officers should be instructed to issue copies of Adangal to farmers without any delay so as to enable them to sell the paddy at DPCs swiftly. Adequate quantity of gunny bags and tarpaulins should be made available. On no account farmers should wait long at the DPCs to sell their paddy,” he said.
He urged the authorities to ensure that traders were not allowed to dump their stock at the DPCs. Arrangements should be made to transport the procured paddy from the DPCs to storage godowns, he said wary of the problems faced last season.
Earlier, various farmers’ associations presented a representation to the officials urging the government to immediately release poultry farmers who were arrested for staging protests demanding revision in broiler chicken rearing rates in the State.
Published – January 23, 2026 05:40 pm IST
