Paddy drying unit to be set up in Srikakulam

 SRIKAKULAM: Paddy drying unit will be set up in Srikakulam soon to dry the produce, said Minister for Civil Supplies N Manohar on Monday.

He inspected the paddy purchase centre (PPC) at Kalisettigudem village in Laveru mandal on Monday.

The Minister said that the estimated cost of the unit is Rs 40 crore. Farmers can dry their product to sell it at high price. The Minister explained that moisture percentage was increased up to 25 per cent to purchase paddy from farmers.

He issued instructions to the officials concerned to procure paddy from farmers by preventing the role of local traders and middlemen. The Minister also explained that payment is being completed within 24 hours after the purchase of paddy from farmers.

He appealed to the farmers to register their grievances if they notice any violations. Manohar pointed out that Artificial Intelligence (AI) was also being utilised in the agriculture and civil supplies sectors and farmers can get entire information on their mobile phone. The Civil Supplies department set a target to procure 32 lakh metric tonnes of paddy across the State. The target from the Srikakulam district alone is 5 lakh metric tonnes, the Minister said.