Fortified-kernel consignments reach delta mills; Bihar labour exodus, transport logjams stall blending

Fortified rice kernels — the micronutrient-rich granules needed to produce fortified rice for public distribution schemes — have begun to trickle in at rice mills across the Cauvery delta in the past few days.

Mill owners welcomed the deliveries but warned that a simultaneous exodus of migrant workers from Bihar and persistent transport bottlenecks mean milling and blending will remain below capacity for several days.

“It was only last week we received the first batch of consignment, we expect the next one on Thursday,” a senior miller in the delta said. “Once kernels reach the blending lines in quantity we can step up output, but the staggered supply has already pushed blending schedules back.” Millers and procurement officials say part of the delay stemmed from central laboratory clearances and the slow pace of approvals for fortified-kernel consignments. In delta districts, over 150 mills have registered themselves with the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC) for hulling.

Procurement itself has not been the problem. Direct purchase centres and the TNCSC continued to lift paddy and credit payments were made to farmers on schedule. The snag, officials and millers agree, lies further down the chain: loading at CAP (common agri-produce) storages, trucking to mills and the blending operations that convert milled rice into fortified rice.

The labour shortage has been acute and immediate. A large share of casual hands who load, move and sort paddy in storage yards are migrant workers from Bihar. With Dussehra followed by the Bihar Assembly elections and festival travel, many returned home, leaving mills short of workers. Operators report long truck queues at procurement yards and idle hulling capacity at mills while stocks accumulate at DPCs.

The Federation of Tamil Nadu Rice Mill Owners and Paddy Rice Dealers, led by D. Thulasingam, said fortified-kernel supplies were on the way and that blending would be accelerated once stocks reached mills.

Millers urged investment in regional testing capacity. At present, fortified-rice clearances require samples to be sent to distant Government of India-approved laboratories; an accredited testing facility in Tiruchi, they said, would cut turnaround times and transport costs.

Operators expect a visible easing within ten to fourteen days as kernels arrive in larger consignments and migrant labour returns.