Samba paddy procurement likely to touch six lakh tonnes, says official

Secretary to the Department of Co-operation and Food and Consumer Protection K.S. Palanisamy on Monday reviewed samba paddy procurement at the direct purchase centres (DPCs) in Thanjavur district.

According to an official release, Mr. Palanisamy said 540 direct purchase centres have been opened in Thanjavur district in the 2025-26 Kharif Marketing Season (KMS). As on February 8, 1.31 lakh tonnes of samba paddy had been procured from farmers who harvested their crop raised on one lakh acres out of the 3.23 lakh acres brought under samba cultivation in Thanjavur district during the current Kharif Marketing Season, Mr. Palanisamy said.

Another five lakh tonnes of samba paddy was expected to be harvested in Thanjavur district, the official said and added that this year the total procurement during kharif period would surpass last season’s procurement of 5,03,571 tonnes of samba paddy and touch 6 lakh tonnes.

As far as the sale proceeds released to farmers, Mr. Palanisamy said that so far ₹254.57 crore had been disbursed to 26,369 farmers through electronic clearing service within two days of measurement of paddy at the DPCs.

Zonal-level committees had been formed to check or prevent sale of paddy by non-farmers by producing “fake documents” at the DPCs, he added.