BHUBANESWAR: Seed-growing farmers of the state have sought the intervention of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan for the resumption of the production subsidy to farmers under Bringing Green Revolution to Eastern India (BGREI) programme.
The cereal production incentive is part of the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) under which states are provided breeder seeds for the development of certified seeds of notified varieties less than 10 years old. The Centre has been providing production subsidy assistance to promote new seeds of high-yielding varieties among the farmers. The Central scheme implemented in 2010-11 has been withdrawn from the 2020-21 Kharif season.
Under the scheme, seed-growing farmers were provided with a production subsidy of Rs 20 per kg (Rs 2,000 per quintal) and a distribution subsidy of Rs 25 per kg (Rs 2,500 per quintal). The Odisha State Seeds Corporation enjoys a distribution subsidy for the timely supply of quality seeds to the farmers. Over 5,000 seed-growing farmers registered with the state seed corporation has been supplying quality seeds under the Central scheme and received nearly Rs 10 crore for paddy seeds supplied during the 2019-20 kharif season.
“Farmers will not go for production of new variety paddy seeds if they do not get production incentive. Production of new seeds involves huge costs as rouging of seeds is a costly affair. If after segregation of seeds failed in the seed testing laboratory, the same will not be acceptable to the corporation nor it can be sold in the open market,” said Rabinarayan Mohapatra, a Balasore farmer.
If the state and the Central governments are spending hundreds of crore in extension programmes to promote new varieties of seeds, there is no point to stop the production subsidy scheme, he said. A delegation of farmers who met Pradhan here recently, also reminded him that the seed growers who had supplied certified green gram and black gram seeds in 2016-17 are yet to get the incentive. The union minister had written on the matter to the Agriculture Minister in September 2019.