Farmers told to take harvest holiday

NALGONDA: The district administration, which finds it difficult to deal with a glut of paddy supply at the purchase centres, is persuading farmers to put off harvesting operations for some time. This season, Nalgonda district has seen an abundant yield of paddy due to heavy rains and plentiful availability of water in the Nagarjunasagar reservoir. Paddy was cultivated in a record 5.2 lakh acres.

But most of the farmers are selling fine rice to millers while choosing to dispose of coarse variety at IKP centres. Consequently, every day rice mills in the district are seeing a heavy rush of farmers eager to sell their produce as they fear that an unexpected rain could damage the grain and render it unfit for sale.

Unable to deal with the rush, the millers in Miryalaguda have given a representation to the collector urging him to advise the farmers to take one-day break from harvesting paddy in a week. In response to this, agriculture officials have instructed their staff to stop harvesting under the Nagarjunasagar ayacut for a few days and ensure pressure on millers comes down. However, this decision of the officials has not gone down well with the farmers who fear that any delay in harvesting could cause damage to their crop in case of rain or fog.