In the first week of October, Chief Minister M K Stalin convened a meeting of Collectors from the Cauvery delta districts on video conference and called 2024-25 a “record year” for paddy. By then, Tamil Nadu had procured 47.99 lakh tonnes of paddy — already surpassing its earlier high of 44.95 lakh tonnes in 2020-21 — with weeks still to go in the procurement cycle.Yet, that same bumper harvest has triggered a rolling crisis in the delta: paddy lying in the open, bags germinating under Northeast Monsoon showers, farmers waiting days outside Direct Purchase Centres (DPCs), and a bitter blame game between the state, the Union government, and its own procurement machinery.The situation has prompted Stalin to write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over relaxing norms and raising procurement targets.How Tamil Nadu ended up with so much paddyThe story starts with water. From June 1, Tamil Nadu realised around 161.6 tmc ft of Cauvery water at Biligundulu — about 103 tmc ft more than its entitlement for that period — amid good rainfall. The Mettur dam hovered near full level in August, with water storage above 90 tmc ft, giving Cauvery delta farmers a rare sense of security.That assurance translated into acreage. In the Kuruvai (short-term) season, the delta normally covers around 4.4 lakh acres. This year, coverage crossed 6.09 lakh acres by August 10 — about 40 percent higher than normal, and 57 percent more than the 3.88 lakh acres covered last year. Thanjavur and Tiruvarur alone accounted for nearly two lakh acres each.This expansion fed directly into procurement numbers. By February 1, 2025, nearly 8 lakh tonnes of paddy had already been procured statewide — about 6.2 lakh tonnes from Cauvery delta districts alone, with Thanjavur leading at about 2 lakh tonnes, followed by Tiruvarur (1.6 lakh tonnes), Mayiladuthurai (85,400 tonnes), and Cuddalore (70,500 tonnes).By July 29, Tamil Nadu was on the verge of breaking its all-time record: 44.49 lakh tonnes of paddy had been procured, just short of the 44.95 lakh tonnes logged in 2020-21. Officials estimated the final tally for 2024-25 could touch 47 lakh tonnes.Story continues below this adOver the last five years, paddy procurement has stayed in the 43-45 lakh tonne band — except for 2023-24, when a weaker season pulled it down to 34.96 lakh tonnes. In 2024-25, Cauvery delta districts contributed about 29 lakh tonnes and non-delta regions 15.49 lakh tonnes, reflecting not just a delta resurgence but also good rains and expanded acreage in other parts of the state.Why did the system buckleWhile the Kuruvai numbers looked spectacular, they came with a catch — time.Because of unusual rains earlier in the year, many farmers shifted crops or sowed late. Kuruvai harvests bunched up closer to the onset of the Northeast monsoon rather than finishing comfortably ahead of it.By late September, Samba coverage in the delta was barely one-third of the previous year — only about 1 lakh acres compared to 3.2 lakh acres — in part because Kuruvai fields were still being harvested.Story continues below this adWhen the first heavy monsoon showers arrived, much of the paddy was either standing in the fields or stacked in or near DPCs. Many centres, designed to hold about 3,000 bags, were crammed with 10,000 or more.The Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC) struggled to move stocks from DPCs to godowns and hulling mills, constrained by limited storage and transport bottlenecks.In Thanjavur, officials later ramped up daily evacuation from about 2,000 tonnes to nearly 12,000 tonnes a day — using rail, road and additional mills — after 1,68,381 tonnes had already been procured since September 1 and tens of thousands of tonnes were “lying on the ground”. In Nagapattinam, procurement shot up tenfold compared to the previous year: 72,736 tonnes from 14,600 farmers, with Rs 175.99 crore paid directly into bank accounts.District administrations opened more DPCs and extended operations into evenings and holidays. Nagapattinam ran 124 DPCs, up from just 23 last year. By October 28, Minister for Food and Civil Supplies R Sakkarapani said 11.21 lakh tonnes of paddy had been procured in just 58 days of the 2025-26 Kuruvai season, with more than 30,000 tonnes being procured and shipped out daily.Story continues below this adBut for many farmers, those interventions came late. Visuals of germinated paddy bags, stockpiles under tarpaulins, and farmers drying grain by the roadside dominated the news — and the state Opposition seized on the images.Why is ‘moisture content’ at the heart of Stalin’s row with the Centre?The immediate flashpoint is a technical phrase: Fair Average Quality (FAQ) norms, particularly the 17 percent cap on moisture content imposed for procurement under the central rules.The Cauvery delta’s Kuruvai harvest now coincides almost exactly with the Northeast monsoon. Farmers say it is unrealistic to dry paddy down to 17 percent moisture in humid, rainy conditions; any delay risks sprouting and heavier losses. Many have long demanded that the Centre allow procurement at moisture levels up to 22–24 percent, calibrated to local climate and cropping patterns.In his letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of his Wednesday visit to Coimbatore, Stalin framed this as an urgent crisis: he asked the Centre to relax the moisture norm from 17 percent to 22 percent, raise the Union’s Kharif procurement target for Tamil Nadu from 16 lakh tonnes to match actual output, and ease norms for sampling fortified rice kernels (FRK) so that hulling and movement of stocks are not slowed down.Story continues below this adThe state argues that inflexible FAQ standards — designed for north Indian kharif conditions — penalise Tamil Nadu farmers who harvest under the monsoon skies. Farmers’ groups call the crisis “entirely man-made”, blaming both Delhi’s rules and Chennai’s planning.Following the state’s request, the Centre deputed a team of senior officials to districts such as Cuddalore to physically measure moisture levels and assess damage. Farmers told the team that continuous rain had pushed moisture well above the norm and asked for official permission to procure up to 22 percent to avoid ruin.What is being said about varieties and structural issuesBeyond the immediate logistics, agronomists and farmers point to deeper shifts in the paddy ecosystem. Traditional, flood-resistant varieties in the older Cauvery delta have steadily given way to high-yielding hybrids and short-term varieties. These newer strains promise more grain but often mature later and are less suited to local water and soil conditions — meaning harvests slide into the peak monsoon window, amplifying moisture risk.A senior researcher collaborating with the Tamil Nadu Rice Research Institute and a few independent experts who spoke to The Indian Express argue for a rethinking of varietal choices, pushing for paddy types better matched to delta conditions and flood patterns. They also note that FAQ norms were never designed with the delta’s specific climate in mind.Story continues below this adOn the procurement side, TNCSC unions warn of chronic infrastructure and staffing gaps: overloaded godowns and CAP yards, shrinking open storage spaces, and shortages of field officers and loadmen. Farmer leaders allege corruption and “proxy tenders” in lorry contracts, forcing small and marginal farmers to sell to middlemen who, in turn, use the farmers’ documents to sell to DPCs, skimming off margins while the cultivator absorbs transport and informal costs.How has this become a political flashpointWith an assembly election year ahead, every bag of paddy has acquired political charge.A month ago, opposition leaders such as former Union minister Anbumani Ramadoss accused the state’s Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government of allowing Kuruvai paddy to “lie in the rain”, citing figures that only about 40 percent of harvested grain had been procured at one point even as 70 percent of the 6.13 lakh acres had been harvested. Farmers’ bodies linked to Left parties have demanded compensation of Rs 30,000 per acre where waterlogging prevented harvest, and specific relief for damaged Samba crops.The DMK has pushed back by foregrounding the unprecedented scale of procurement, the state top-up over Minimum Support Price (Rs 130 per quintal for Grade A and Rs 105 for common varieties), and the structural dependence on Union rules and approvals for FAQ norms, fortified rice and central pool procurement.Story continues below this adStalin’s pointed messaging to the Centre — casting Tamil Nadu as a “record-producing” state constrained by Delhi’s one-size-fits-all standards — is thus aimed at two audiences: anxious delta farmers and a wider electorate that has watched the paddy crisis unfold in real time.For now, the Tamil Nadu Rice Research Institute researcher said the row is about moisture percentages and godown capacity.“But underneath, it is a test of whether India’s grain procurement architecture can adapt to a changing climate and shifting crop patterns,” he said.