BERHAMPUR: Even as paddy procurement for the kharif marketing session started in Ganjam district on Thursday, lack of storage facilities at mandis set up by cooperative societies has posed serious problems for both farmers and civil supply officials.As per the Government order, the district administration had asked all the cooperative societies to open mandis in their respective offices/godowns from December 21. But most of the cooperative societies have no office or godown of their own, while its offices are functioning in rented houses. As a result, cooperative societies are now in a fix to store the procured paddy bags.
Sources said Beguniapada block has 21 cooperative societies, of which 14 are under Berhampur cental cooperative bank (CCB) and 7 are under Aska CCB. Under Berhampur CCB, the cooperative societies at Mardhakote, Chingudikhol, Tirida, Sradhapur, Lachipur, Talasara and Angaragaon do not have their own office or godown. Though the societies at Beguniapada, S Chachina, Unjabala, Burujhuri, K Barida and Sandhamula have their own buildings, these structures are in dilapidated condition. Under Aska CCB, the cooperative societies at Kodola, Kalimekhi and K Ranipada do not have storage facilities, while the houses at Belapada, Jagannathpur, Fasi and Mathasarasing remained almost abandoned.
While the cooperative societies have been provided with computers, weighing machines, metres to measure paddy quality, lack of storage facilities and power supply have hampered the process. On the other hand, several posts, including secretary in the cooperative societies, are lying vacant.
Cooperative Marketing Inspector of the block Binayak Biswal said the cooperative societies are supposed to repair their houses or to hire godowns for storage purpose. But they failed to act in this regard. Proposals to set up new godowns for the cooperative societies have been sent to the State Government, he added.
Meanwhile, around 30 mandis have started purchasing paddy from registered farmers. Civil Supply Officer (CSO) Bishnu Prasad Supaka said, "It will take a day or two for the process to gather momentum as all formalities, including activating computers for online payment to farmers, have been completed at the mandis. Besides, we are also in the process of signing agreements with the millers." He said the district administration has decided to open over 400 paddy purchasing centre this year.
Deputy Registrar of Cooperative Societies Susant Panda said 1.03 lakh farmers have already registered their names to sell their produce. Of them, around 25,000 farmers are new and over 20,100 are sharecroppers. The minimum support price (MSP) of the common variety of paddy conforming to fair average quality (FAQ) is `1,550 per quintal, while Grade-A variety has been fixed at `1,590, an official said.
Dispute over FAQ continues
Jeypore: The paddy procurement in the district is going on at a snail's pace as few millers are taking part in the process over FAQ dispute. So far, about 2 lakh quintals of paddy have been procured, while farmers have dumped over five lakh quintals at different mandis in Jeypore sub-division. According to sources, though mandis were opened on December 2, the paddy procurement is yet to gain momentum due to dispute between farmers and millers over quality of paddy. While millers are reluctant to procure the paddy citing below FAQ, farmers continue to transport their produce from their villages to the mandis. After the district administration's intervention, the paddy procurement was geared up from December 13. Sources said about 31 millers have registered their names for paddy procurement in the district, but only 10 have participated.