Collector M. Govinda Rao on Saturday said the district had so far procured close to 1.75 lakh tonnes of paddy as against the target of six lakh tonnes set for this season.
The Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation was equipped with sufficient gunny bags to sustain the momentum of procurement, he told mediapersons after inspecting a direct procurement centre at Thingalur in Thiruvaiyaru block on Saturday.
Paddy procurement was progressing on expected lines, with the maximum daily procurement limit at DPCs increased to 1,000 bags a day from 800 to expedite the process.
Further, additional staff and machinery were deployed in five DPCs in the district where arrivals were more, necessitating procurement of paddy beyond the restricted number of 1,000 gunny bags per day.
The movement of procured paddy to storage points within the district as well as in other districts by road or rail was also being carried out simultaneously. So far, around 1.40 lakh tonnes of paddy out of the 1,74,662 tonnes procured till February 14 through 434 DPCs had been moved to storage points.
In view of the good harvest, paddy procurement was being carried out on Sundays as well.
Last Sunday, a total of 7,557 tonnes of paddy was procured. A sum of ₹288 crore had been credited in bank accounts of 43,618 farmers, who supplied their produce to DPCs.
On the supposed shortage of harvesting machines, Mr. Govinda Rao said 1,350 machines were engaged in fields across the district now.
