District Collector Himanshu Shukla told an English daily that at least 1,400 metric tonnes of paddy, which was sprouted due to the rainfall in the region, was procured in a single day. He also stated that the sprouted paddy would be processed in boiled rice mills and the government would provide free transportation for the damaged one.
The sprouted paddy will be processed into broken rice and exported from the Kakinada seashore to multiple countries. The Backward Classes Welfare Minister, Ch. Venu Gopala Krishna claimed that Konaseema farmers had received Rs 380 crore in financial assistance since Kharif 2019-20.
This statement came after TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu criticized the State government for not responding to the damaged paddy in the Konaseema region. Venu Gopala Krishna informed that the government had provided input subsidies and crop insurance to Konaseema farmers, while the damaged paddy would be procured.
Paddy procurement efforts are also being made in the Eluru and Godavari districts. Shashi Bhushan Kumar, the Special Officer for Paddy Procurement in Eluru district, and Principal Secretary of the Water Resource Department, announced that paddy worth Rs 240 crore had been procured as of May 6.
Responding to complaints about transportation facilities and charges, Kumar said that the authorities in charge should oversee the creation of the "track sheet" of the cars to be hired for paddy transportation.
Civil Supplies Minister Karumuri Nageswara Rao, who was in the West Godavari district, said that gunny sacks were being supplied to meet the demand and accelerate paddy procurement efforts in the Godavari region, which had been hit by recent rainfall.
The Agriculture and Civil Supplies Departments have been actively engaged in procuring damaged and sprouted paddy while extending essential aid to affected farmers.
