When farmers of Raghunathpur block faced loss in paddy prices due to poor quality seeds, Khetramohan Behera organised them under an FPO and roped in scientists to train them in production of certified seeds, writes Amarnath Parida
JAGATSINGHPUR: Although agriculturally rich, getting quality paddy seeds and market for their produce was the biggest roadblock that farmers of Raghunathpur block of Jagatsinghpur district faced till a decade back. Today, every farmer in the block produces superior quality paddy seeds and marketing is no longer a cause of concern.
The man behind this transformation is a progressive farmer Khetramohan Behera, hailing from Redhua village under Raghunathpur block, who not only introduced them to modern farming techniques but also ensured that they did not struggle for selling their produce and got good quality paddy seeds. And in doing so, he took help of the Central Rice Research Institute (CRRI) at Cuttack.
“Jagatsingpur has two major irrigation canals - Machgaon and Taladanda - and 80 pc of families are into agriculture. The two canals irrigate 16 out of 19 gram panchayats in the area and farmers mostly grow paddy and pulses,” said Behera, who had in 1994 founded an organisation ‘Live and Let Live’ (LALL) that primarily works for small and marginal farmers.
“Though paddy production has always remained high, selling the stock was difficult for farmers of Redhua, Radhanga, Purunabasanta, Tanara and Adheikula gram panchayats of Raghunathpur block. Because farmers never got good quality seeds which would have fetched them a greater market value for their produce, said Behera who through his organisation LALL decided to form a farmer producer organisation (FPO).
He registered Gorekhanath Farmers Producers Company Ltd in 2013 at Redhua village and engaged farmers in it for production and marketing of paddy seeds. The FPO collaborated with CRRI, OUAT and the Agriculture department wherein, scientists imparted field training to farmers on scientific methods of seed production, patch cultivation, green manuring, line transplanting, fertiliser application, plant protection and post-harvesting methods.
“We started seeds production in 10 acres of land using scientific methods and devised ways for procurement and marketing of paddy in an organised manner. We also began supplying both foundation and certified seeds to our members on time, facilitated seed production programmes and created marketing linkage for them to sell their produce. In due course of time, the results started showing,” he said.
Today, the FPO has a total shareholders of 1,559. Of them, 152 farmers are engaged in seeds production, 700 in production of aromatic rice and the rest are involved in cultivation of rice (with low glycaemic index) for diabetes patients. The farmers now also sell paddy seeds at the MSP of `500 per quintal.
Due to its efforts, Gorekhanath Farmers Producers Company Ltd was awarded the best farmer producer company for seed production in the year 2020. Two years back, the FPO produced and sold 3,500 quintals of paddy seeds and appointed 22 seed dealers throughout the state for the purpose.
With the help of rice breeders and scientists, Behera and another FPO member Ashok Barik have also developed two rice varieties, LALL Kubera and Ratan Menti respectively which are registered in Plant Varieties Registry, Government of India.
Behera said with the help of his two sons who are pursuing degrees in agriculture studies, he plans to introduce more new varieties of paddy seeds. “Besides, bringing more women into the agriculture fold is one of my priorities. Today, Raghunathpur has a few women SHGs who are primarily into agriculture,” he said.