Chandigarh, Aug. 20 -- Rice millers on Tuesday announced that they will not process hybrid paddy varieties due to low full-grain rice yield after shelling, raising the likelihood of yet anothercrisis-ridden paddy procurement season, which begins on October 1. The millers' announcement came following a decision by the Punjab and Haryana high court that struck down the state government's blanket ban on the hybrid varieties of paddy. With around 190 lakh tonnes of paddy expected to arrive in Punjab's mandis this season, the HC verdict has revived tensions over procurement, storage, and financial viability for the state's rice industry, the millers' association said. "The farmers will suffer because we won't be milling hybrid paddy types. Why should millers bear the loss?" said Ranjit Singh Jossan, vice-president of the Punjab Rice Millers Association. Jossan added that hybrid paddy yields 66% rice, but 43-45% of it ends up broken. "The millers are forced to buy additional rice at their own expense to meet the government's requirement of 67% milled rice," he said. A paddy grower in Gurdaspur district, Ravisher Singh, said the farmers will again be at the receiving end for no fault of theirs. "Why are farmers forced to suffer. Why has the government failed to find a solution to the problem?" he said. Last year, the millers had refused to process hybrids, and under pressure from them, the state government had banned the hybrid seeds. The water-guzzling PUSA 44, which is preferred by the farmers and the millers for its nearly 70% out- turn ratio of rice from paddy, was also banned by the state agriculture department for its heavy biomass content, which leads to an increase in farm fires post-harvest. The advancement of paddy sowing to June 1 this year has seen a jump in acreage of the PUSA-44 variety. Last year, the procurement began with lots of problems when millers refused to take possession of the stocks, and finally an agreement was reached with millers agreeing to process the hybrid varieties, but imposed price cuts on farmers growing them. This year, paddy has been cultivated over 32.49 lakh hectares in Punjab, with 6.81 lakh hectares under basmati varieties. Despite the official ban, many farmers continue to grow hybrid paddy, especially in the Majha region, attracted by its higher yield. "It is going to be a problematic season of paddy procurement again, and farmers will be at the receiving end," said BS Rajewal, head of the BKU (Rajewal) farm faction. He added that agriculture is a state subject and, in his opinion, the state has failed to convince the court. "The real fact is that hybrid varieties are preferred in the potato belt for early harvest. The short-duration varieties help farmers in clearing fields for potato sowing," Rajewal added. The millers also raised the issue of the OTR report, which has been submitted by the IIT, Kharagpur, but hasn't been made public. Last year, after millers refused to shell hybrid paddy, the Centre's ministry of food and public distribution asked IIT-Kharagpur to conduct a study to know the out-turn ratio (OTR) of hybrid paddy. According to sources, the IIT teams had conducted the sampling process in three rice mills in Punjab during the previous paddy season. "But these reports were never made public. We demand that the reports be released and the Centre compensate the industry for the losses caused in the past due to hybrid seed varieties, and in the future, a policy should be formulated based on these reports to compensate the farmers and millers," suggested a rice mill owner. Jossan said the millers will comment on Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) PR 126 varieties only after the IIT-Kharagpur report is made public....