BERHAMPUR: Peeved over being supplied with substandard quality of green chilli seeds, the Rushikulya Rayat Mahasabha on Tuesday wrote a letter to the director of Horticulture department besides the chief minister and agriculture minister seeking compensation for the loss incurred by farmers.
Sources said the Horticulture department supplied green chilli seeds to all 22 blocks of the district to be distributed in sachets, free of cost, to every woman farmer. However, when the plants were grown, they neither bore any flower nor fruit.
After receiving complaints from other women farmers, members of the mahasabha Simanchal Behera and Mohan Padihari visited the blocks. They concluded that the seeds provided were of substandard quality and appealed that the Horticulture department examine the seeds before supplying them to farmers.
The field staff, however, said they receive the seeds at the last moment with a direction to distribute them immediately. “In such a situation it is not possible to examine the seeds. The seeds are procured from Odisha Seeds Corporation and sent to different districts, which is a time-taking process,” they added.