Chennai: Tamil Nadu may face shortage of rice over the next few months as thousands of hectares of agricultural lands submerged in the recent deluge. Water-logging in rice godowns at Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur had spoiled stored stocks.
Already the price of rice has been surging by five to 10 per cent annually and next year it will escalate further, delta farmers and wholesale traders told DC. They have petitioned the chief secretary seeking adequate relief as rain continues in the delta districts inundating agricultural lands.
In the petition, Arupathy S. Kalyanam, general secretary, Federation of Farmers Associations of Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam districts, said all delta districts had received heavy rain this monsoon.
Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur and Thanjavur had received excess rainfall of 64, 58 and 39 per cent inundating paddy, sugarcane and other vegetable crops resulting in heavy loss. The Centre and the State's relief to farmers affected by floods and other natural calamities was relatively less. This should be increased from Rs 5400 to Rs 25,000 per acre. If farmers were not compensated it will have a spiraling effect on rice price, he said.
The heavy downpour crippled both November and December sale of provision items. Only during the distribution of free food, wholesale market of cereals and dhals picked up.
Cost of essential commodities had shot up because of the deluge. There will be a three to five per cent increase in the prices of provisions in January, said V. Jothiraj, a wholesale provision vendor at Parry's.
Farmlands in water to push rice price up
Tamil Nadu may face shortage of rice over the next few months as thousands of hectares of agricultural lands submerged in the recent deluge. Water-logging in rice godowns at Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur had spoiled stored stocks.
Already the price of rice has been surging by five to 10 per cent annually and next year it will escalate further, delta farmers and wholesale traders told
DC.
They have petitioned the chief secretary seeking adequate relief as rain continues in the delta districts inundating agricultural lands. In the petition, Arupathy S. Kalyanam, general secretary, Federation of Farmers Associations of Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam districts, said all delta districts had received heavy rain this monsoon.
Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur and Thanjavur had received excess rainfall of 64, 58 and 39 per cent inundating paddy, sugarcane and other vegetable crops resulting in heavy loss. The Centre and the State’s relief to farmers affected by floods and other natural calamities was relatively less.
This should be increased from Rs 5,400 to Rs 25,000 per acre. If farmers were not compensated it will have a spiraling effect on rice price, he said. The heavy downpour crippled both November and December sale of provision items. Only during the distribution of free food, wholesale market of cereals and dhals picked up.
Cost of essential commodities had shot up because of the deluge. There will be a three to five per cent increase in the prices of provisions in January, said V. Jothiraj, a wholesale provision vendor at Parry’s.
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