BHUBANESWAR: Even as the State Government is gearing up for procurement of rabi paddy from May 1, many farmers of coastal districts have not been able to dispose of their stocks due to closure of mandis (market yards) after announcement of elections on March 10.
According to reports received from Cuttack, Puri and Kalahandi, farmers still hold marketable surplus paddy. This is despite the fact that the State Government is yet to meet the procurement target of 55.65 lakh tonnes of paddy in the 2018-19 kharif marketing season.
Sources in the Cooperation Department said Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies (PACS) were not in a position to procure paddy due to storage problem. With godowns of rice millers full to their capacities, they refused to lift paddy from PACS, the authorised agencies for paddy procurement.
In the absence of institutional procurement of paddy, farmers having surplus paddy are forced to go for distress sell of their stocks. Private traders are offering a price of `1,300 to `1,400 per quintal against the minimum support price (MSP) of `1,750 per quintal.
The common complaints from farmers having stock of surplus paddy is that the procurement agencies (PACS in most cases) are giving preferential treatment to farmers owing allegiance to the ruling party and local BJD leaders. While tokens are issued to some influential persons multiple times for purchase of paddy, others were not so lucky. Protest raised by them went unheard, sources said.
Paddy procurement for 2018-19 kharif marketing season came to an end soon after enforcement of election code of conduct on March 10, despite government instruction to collectors of 19 districts to continue procurement till farmers are willing to sell their marketable surplus under the decentralised paddy procurement system.
On February 13, the State Government issued instructions to the districts directing to the stop paddy procurement by end of the month. However, the government was forced to rescind its order following criticism from different quarters.