Teams from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur on Wednesday began carrying out tests to examine the turnover ratio (OTR) of freshly husked paddy at a rice mill in Chapwail village near Raikot in Ludhiana district .

Two batches of 40 tonnes each of paddy are hulled by the teams and the results are expected Thursday morning.

The teams will conduct the tests in Jagraon and Khanna on Thursday or Friday.

During the ongoing procurement of kharif (paddy), rice millers claimed to get less OTR in short duration paddy PR126 and other hybrid varieties sown in around 50% of the total area (32 lakh tonnes) cultivated under paddy. These varieties are said to give a rice yield of 62 to 64 kilograms per 100 kilograms of paddy, demanding relaxation from the Centre.

They demanded teams from the Union Ministry of Food and Public Distribution, but the ministry assigned the task to IIT Kharagpur.

As millers are reluctant to husk and store paddy, the mandis are saturated and farmers find it difficult to unload their crop there. The tests will clear our doubts, and we hope that the doubts of the millers will be cleared based on the test results,” said rice millers association vice-president Ranjit Singh Josson.