The story so far: Sensing the growing discomfort among farmers of the Cauvery delta in Tamil Nadu about reports of damage to paddy at many places, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government, on October 19, requested the Union government to relax the permissible moisture content for paddy procurement from 17% to 22%. Subsequently, the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution has formed three teams to assess the situation.

What led to the present problem?

The problem, per se, is not new to the Cauvery delta, regarded as the rice bowl of south India. Some of the causes include increasing dependence of farmers on the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC) for selling their produce, reluctance of private traders to buy paddy harvested during the Kuruvai sea

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