SAMBALPUR: Even as only two days remain for procurement of kharif paddy, farmers of several blocks are spending sleepless nights to protect their crops from elephants. A farmer of Chakuliabahal in Jamankira block Hariram Naik said, around 17 villages under the panchayat are under the shadow of elephant incursion. The animals, lured by ripe crops during harvesting season, stray from the nearby villages and cause substantial damage.
This time, the extent of elephant incidence has been higher than previous years due to which farmers are worried about the safety of their crops ahead of procurement, he said.“For over a week now, all farmers here are guarding their lands without sleep. Once the procurement starts, we will have to be extra cautious since there are no proper market yards and the harvested crops will be at the risk of damage unless they are quickly lifted,” Naik said.
In the absence of sheds and godowns, paddy procurement in these areas is done in an open-air market yard since the last few decades. As per guidelines, the procured paddy should be lifted within 24 hours after it is sold by farmers. However, since these villages are located in remote and hilly areas, lifting of paddy takes up to a week’s time or even more. Under these circumstances, farmers are forced to leave behind 700-1000 bags of paddy in the open in absence of any security.
Sources said over 2,000 farmers in Jamankira depend on the open market yard at Kharsanmal. Similarly in nearby Maneswar block, 700 farmers of Haladi, Kalmi, Nuatihura and Kudomara villages rely on open market yard at Nuatihura which is an elephant-prone area. The situation is same in almost all the villages in Jujumura, Rairakhol, and Kuchinda blocks.
Convenor of Paschim Odisha Krushak Sangathan Samanwaya Samiti (POKSSS) said, “Nearly 80-90 per cent of the market yards in interior areas of these blocks are in the open. We had proposed for at least one proper enclosed market yard in each of these blocks in 2003 but the district administration turned a deaf ear to the proposal.”
“The administration could at least fence the open market yards which would protect the paddy from elephants. Else, it should mark these market yards as elephant-prone so that alternative arrangement for procurement can be made,” Pradhan said.
While the district Collector could not be contacted, sources in the Deputy Registrar of Cooperative Societies (DRCS) office said there is neither any provision to identify market yards as elephant-prone nor any plans for developing the open market yards in near future.