Kerala to hand over paddy procurement to cooperatives
By PTI
The Kerala government has decided to entrust paddy procurement to cooperative societies, shifting to a farmer-centric, two-tier system aimed at ensuring quicker payments and reducing delays.
The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan here, a release from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said on Monday.
The government said timely procurement would prevent crop damage and help farmers receive payments at the time of purchase itself.
The new model will be implemented through Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies and will come into force from the upcoming season.
Under the system, primary cooperative societies that are ready for procurement will purchase paddy directly from farmers.
The government said the move would avoid dependence on Paddy Receipt Sheet (PRS)-based loans and ensure that farmers are paid immediately after procurement.
At the district or taluk level, nodal cooperative societies will be formed with shareholding participation from cooperatives, padasekhara samithis and farmers.
Paddy will be collected locally through cooperatives and processed either in mills owned by the nodal societies, mills taken on rent, or private mills.
After processing as per the prescribed out-turn ratio, rice will be supplied to the public distribution system.
By-products such as broken rice, husk and bran, along with processing charges—currently available to private mills—will also accrue to the nodal cooperatives.
Supplyco will act as the nodal agency for paddy procurement.
To support cooperatives lacking surplus funds, the government will roll out a special financial assistance loan scheme through Kerala Bank.
Working capital loans required by nodal societies will also be provided through the bank.
A district-level coordination committee, chaired by the district collector, will oversee implementation.
The committee will include representatives from the cooperation, food and civil supplies and agriculture departments, farmer groups, Kerala Bank and nodal cooperatives.
A digital portal will be set up to monitor procurement and fund disbursal.
In the long term, cooperative branding is expected to bring price stability and value addition, and pave the way for launching the state’s own rice brand, ‘Kerala Rice’.
Finance Minister K N Balagopal, Cooperation Minister V N Vasavan, Food Minister G R Anil, Agriculture Minister P Prasad, Water Resources Minister K Krishnankutty and Local Self-Government Minister M B Rajesh attended the meeting, along with Chief Secretary Dr A Jayathilak and senior officials. PTI TGB SSK
This article has been republished from The Print.