Provide tarpaulins to protect harvested paddy from rain, TMC urges govt.

As the samba harvest gains momentum across delta and southern districts of Tamil Nadu, farmers wing of Tamil Maanila Congress has urged the State government to supply tarpaulins immediately to protect harvested paddy from unseasonal rain.

In a statement, TMC farmers’ wing secretary C. Rengarajan said farmers had begun bringing harvested paddy to government-run direct purchase centres (DPC), but persistent rainfall was exposing the produce to damage.

He said adequate tarpaulins must be provided at procurement centres to prevent rain-related losses. The organisation sought speedy procurement of paddy, uninterrupted supply of gunny bags and twine, and efficient handling of stocks.

Highlighting storage bottlenecks, Mr. Rengarajan urged the authorities to ensure timely lifting of procured paddy to godowns and avoid congestion at procurement centres by addressing space constraints so that farmers’ interests were protected during the peak harvest period.