TIRUCHY: Tiruvarur Collector V Mohana Chandran on Thursday said that only 31,053 farmers have registered for availing benefits under the PM-KISAN scheme, while a target of 39,941 beneficiaries has been set.

The Collector appealed to farmers to apply for the scheme before April 30 to benefit from it and updated them on the slew of initiatives for their benefit.

He said that a total of 5.19 lakh metric tonne (MT) paddy has so far been procured during the rabi and kharif seasons through the Direct Procurement Centres (DPCs) in the district, benefitting 1.30 lakh farmers.

The Collector provided updates on procurement and storage levels at Mettur Stanley reservoir, responding to queries at the farmer's grievances redressal meeting. The Mettur storage level on Thursday stood at 107.67 feet, and the inflow is 1,872 cusecs while the outflow is 1,003 cusecs, he said.

Stating that during the kharif summer season, a 550 hectare sesame cultivation target was fixed for 2025-26, while 350 hectare was fixed for groundnut and blackgram at 2,150 hectare, the Collector said. So far, around 50 per cent of the cultivation has been realised for each crop, he told farmers.

Meanwhile, the Collector added that a crop loan to the tune of Rs 477.34 crore has been disbursed to as many as 63,169 farmers in 2024-25. Similarly, 173 DPCs were opened during the kharif season through which 93,986 MT paddy was procured while during the rabi season, 538 DPCs were opened for a procurement of 5.19 lakh MT. He said that 1.30 lakh farmers benefited because of the procurement.

Similarly, the Collector said that seeds with a 50 per cent subsidy are being distributed under the kuruvai package and asked the farmers to avail the benefit. DRO Kalaivani and other officials were present at the grievance redressal meeting.