Don't bring paddy with high moisture, arhtiyas warn farmers

Commission agents in the area have asked farmers not to bring paddy with high moisture content for procurement. They have hung warning notices at their shops, asking the farmers to bring only dry paddy, within permissible limits to mandis.

Rice millers are reportedly incurring huge losses due to the high moisture content in the paddy procured last year, so they have told the commission agents not to lift paddy if the moisture content was high.

"We are persuading farmers not to bring paddy with moisture content above the permissible limit of 17 per cent, so that there is smooth lifting of paddy and no glut-like situation," said a commission agent.

Most of the procured paddy from the mandis is lifted by millers. "We suffer huge losses owing to deterioration in the quality of paddy and moisture," the millers said.

The agents have put up flex boards, hoardings and posters around grain mandis, warning the farmers in this regard.

High moisture in paddy is a hindrance and leads to large-scale rejection by procurement agencies. "Many times, the farmers are forced to sell it below the minimum support price (MSP). We don't want them to ignore the permissible limit of 17 per cent moisture set by the government," said a senior functionary at the district mandi office in Moga.

Last year, some farmers had brought produce with moisture content up to 23-24 per cent. While many of them dried paddy under the sun and covered it at night to save it from dew, some managed to sell it to the procurement agencies using their influence, claimed an agent at Baghapurana in Moga.

"Incomplete or uneven drying will result in qualitative and quantitative losses, which include yellowing or discoloration caused by mould development and heat build-up from respiration, reduced milling yields caused by high temperatures and damage caused by insects that are more active in higher moisture levels," said the functionary.