Retail and wholesale traders say supply of paddy from delta region has reduced. | Photo Credit: M. MOORTHY Price of rice in Tiruchi continues to register an increase due to short supply of paddy from the cultivating centres. Tiruchi, which has a number of rice mills in Manachanallur, Ariyamangalam and Kattur, gets paddy from Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam and other areas in the Cauvery delta. Besides them, the mills receive paddy from Karnataka. There are traders who procure rice from various parts of Karnataka and market it as Karnataka Ponni, a fine rice variety. The prices, which were under control until the same period in 2022, began to increase about eight months ago. According to market sources, 1 kg of RNR variety, popularly known as Karnataka Ponni, was sold at ₹46 in January. It was quoted between ₹55 and ₹60 per kg in retail markets on Sunday. Similarly, the price of Manachanallur Ponni (one-year-old variety) is hovering around ₹65 a kg. The rate of common rice varieties (big in size) has gone up in the wholesale …