BHUBANESWAR: Paddy growers of Keonjhar, Dhenkanal and Angul are caught in a dilemma. They have a bumper harvest but are forced to resort to distress sale. Fearing destruction by elephants, farmers of the three districts have gone for early cutting of unripe paddy crops. As mandis are yet to open or operate fully, some have started selling the produce below the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 2,040 per quintal to middlemen. Others risk stocking up the crop in their houses and open yards which attracts the animals.
Known for being man-elephant conflict zones, the problem escalates during the harvesting seasons. In Dhenkanal, farmers of Hindol, Parjang, Sadar blocks and to some extent in Gondia are facing an acute problem. In urgent need of money or unable to stock paddy in their houses for long fearing elephant raids, they have started selling the produce at Rs 1,300 to Rs 1,400 a quintal.
Alekha Majhi, a farmer of Hindol, harvested crops on his 1.7 acres of land a month before the paddy stalks were ripe. “Although it was announced that mandis (for farmers registered under Babandha farmers cooperative society) will open in December, it hasn’t started operating yet. Keeping the stock at home means inviting the elephants, so I decided to sell it at Rs 1,400 a quintal to middlemen,” he said. Middlemen, on the other hand, buy the paddy and stock at safer places before selling it for MSP rate at mandis.
Elephants from Kandhara and Anantapur reserve forests and Satkosia raid the villages for crops.
In Keonjhar, particularly in villages around Champua forest range, managing director of Champua LAMPS Bibhuti Bhusan Giri said they are unable to procure unripe paddy from farmers. Since the crops are cut early, he said, the moisture content remains high.
In three dists of Odisha, elephants force distress sale of paddy
“We have reports of farmers selling crops to middlemen at lower prices because of elephant fear but they have the option of drying the paddy completely and bringing it back to mandis for sale, ‘’ he added.
Assistant Agriculture Officer of Angul Lopamudra Sahu said elephants are one of the biggest reasons of paddy damage in Angul block and to prevent the loss, farmers are harvesting the crop early. Dhenkanal DFO Prakash Chand Gogineni points out that not all elephants damage crops.
“There are specific herds that have a tendency to raid both paddy and vegetable crops and all the three districts see movement of such herds during the harvest season,” he said. Two months back, a herd of over 50 elephants from Dhenkanal entered Talcher and damaged a lot of crops before returning back to Dhenkanal a fortnight back.
Forest department offers a compensation of Rs 10,000 per acre for loss of paddy crop due to elephants. The farmers have to apply through ANUKAMPA portal or app. After survey, the DFO releases the compensation within one to three months.