There has been an immense growth of farmers in the state of Tamil Nadu.  For the first time in Tamil Nadu's history, paddy procurement has reached an unparalleled 32.41 lakh tonne during the 2019-20 season, which concluded on September 30. Giving the news on October 3, state Food Minister R Kamaraj said that paddy was obtained from 2,135 centres spread across the state profiting about 5,85,241 farmers.

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A release stated, "This volume of 32.41 lakh tonne paddy is the highest procurement record in the history of Tamil Nadu. Through this, the state government has provided a total of Rs 6,130 crore, including Rs 205 crore, worth of incentives to the farmers." On October 1, the Union government announced a minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 1,888 per quintal for thin variety and Rs 1,868 per quintal for the normal variety for the 2020-2021 season. Additionally, the Tamil Nadu government has given an incentive of Rs 70 per quintal for thin variety and Rs 50 for normal variety, the Minister said.

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According to Minister Kamaraj, the process of procurement for this year started from October 1. Since October 2 was a leave, all procurement centres have been asked to open on October 4, Sunday, for the benefit of farmers. Also, the district Collectors have been told to open more number of Direct Procurement Centres (DPC), depending on the requirements, he added. Denying any delay in procurement of paddy, the Minister said that the pile-up was only due to the increased arrival rate of paddy. Procurement had been stepped up to 1,000 bags a day at each DPC from 700 to 800 a day, he added. 

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