BARIPADA : For farmers of Balasore and Mayurbhanj districts, shifting and storage of harvested paddy has posed the biggest challenge with Phethai-induced rain lashing the region on Monday. With cloudy conditions prevailing for the last two days, panicked farmers were on their toes to harvest their crop and shift it to safer places before the rain.
Even though children, housewives and elderly of farming households joined hands, most of the farmers failed to complete the exercise due to shortage of labourers. Farmers, who had harvested their crop, covered the stocks with polythene sheets.Locals said shifting the harvested paddy in such a short time is a tough task. Unavailability of manpower and lack of motorable road and tractors to shift the crop from the fields has left them worried. While many farmers of Bhograi, Jaleswar, Baliapal and Basta in Balasore are facing a similar situation, heavy demand for tractors and other machineries for shifting the harvested paddy has added to their woes, they said.
Similar situation prevailed in Rashgobindpur, Shamakhunta, Bangiriposi, Suliapada, Udala and other panchayats under Karanjia block in Mayurbhanj district. However, farmers of several blocks close to forest and foothills of Similipal have harvested paddy and shifted it to safer places. As per the reports, farmers in the district had earlier been affected after standing crop was damaged due to pest and animal attack.
The pest attack was reported from Kaptipada, Bangriposi, Khunta, Karanjia, Thakurmunda, Bahalda, Jashipur and Bisoi blocks, while large scale crop loss due to elephant attack was reported in Rashgobindpur and Betnoti areas. Now, the cyclone-induced rain has added to the farmers’ woes.
Deputy Director of Agriculture, Mayurbhanj, Damodar Sethi said as per the State Government order, the department had earlier informed the farmers to shift their harvested paddy in the wake of the cyclone. Block level officers have been asked to assess crop loss if any.
Procurement begins in Mayurbhanj
Mayurbhanj administration on Monday began paddy procurement at 15 mandis opened by LAMPS for the current kharif marketing season in the first phase. Collector Vineet Bhardwaj inaugurated a purchasing centre at Jashipur LAMPS in presence of Civil Supply Officer (CSO) Kishore Kumar Patra. Similarly, other centres were inaugurated by the respective BDOs. Patra said other procurement centres will be opened in next phase soon.
The department has set a target to procure 7.5 tonnes of paddy in 26 blocks. While 45,939 farmers have registered to participate in the process, the minimum support price for FAQ and FAQ-A paddy have been fixed at `1,750 and `1,770 per quintal respectively.