BHAWANIPATNA/KENDRAPARA: Rains since Thursday have added to the woes of Kalahandi farmers who are already hassled over delay in lifting of paddy from mandis or procurement centres. Farmers after harvesting paddy have stocked them at mandis and threshing yards for procurement.
After quality checking of paddy, the stock is procured and then lifted by millers. Farmers alleged that procurement and lifting of paddy at many mandis are being delayed due to lack of adequate vehicles. At some mandis, farmers have been waiting for over a week to sell their stock.
They said due to unseasonal rains, moisture level of the grains go up reflecting on the quality. As a result, farmers will fail to get the minimum support price for their produce. Those who could manage to procure polythene sheets have covered their crops while the rest are approaching Civil Supply officials for help.
Civil Supply Officer Sibaprasad Dora said so far 22 lakh quintal of kharif paddy has been procured and over 32 lakh quintal would be purchased in the second phase. By the end of the season, procurement will exceed 40 lakh quintal, said Dora. He added that since millers are busy both lifting paddy and delivering milled rice, there is shortage of vehicles for lifting paddy. “Steps are being taken to mobilise more millers and vehicles to lift paddy at the earliest. We have set target to lift 1 lakh quintal paddy every day”, he said.
In Kendrapara district too, farmers are worried over damage to ripe paddy and vegetable crops due to unseasonal rains. In the current crop season, 70 per cent of paddy crops have been harvested and stocked in either open fields, threshing yards or mandis. Farmers fear that crops would be damaged if rains continues.
Agriculture Department officials have advised farmers to shift their paddy to safe places and cover them with polythene. However, farmers said many of them cannot afford polythene sheets or labourers to cover and shift the harvested crops. “I have recently harvested paddy on two acre of land. Since labourers are not available easily, my entire family harvested the crop which is now in the threshing yard. But how can I shift the large stock to godown now in such a short span of time without labourers?” asked Bijay Sahoo, a farmer of Bharatpur.
Apart from paddy, groundnut farmers are worried as rains during peak harvesting season might damage the crops. On the other hand, owners of tractors and paddy harvesting machines are minting money by renting them out at a premium.