With weekend COVID-19 shutdowns, no end to sufferings of vegetable farmers in Odisha

With weekend shutdowns in Rourkela and Birmitrapur and closure of weekly village markets in 20 gram panchayats of the block, the farmers are facing losses.
Farmers collecting brinjal from a farm in Sorada block of Ganjam district. (Photo| EPS)
Farmers collecting brinjal from a farm in Sorada block of Ganjam district. (Photo| EPS)

ROURKELA/BERHAMPUR: Frequent lockdowns in urban and rural areas of Panposh sub-division has hit vegetable farmers of Nuagaon block. With weekend shutdowns in Rourkela and Birmitrapur and closure of weekly village markets in 20 gram panchayats of the block, the farmers are facing losses.

Anil Ekka of Barilepta village said he has been suffering for the last four months and to make matters worse, the brinjal and bittergourd crops were damaged due to rains this year. He said the farmers from the block are no longer able to sell their produce in the Steel City markets and are forced to sell their vegetables at throwaway prices.

Nuagaon panchayat samiti chairman Maklu Ekka said after a meeting with Panposh sub-collector Biswajit Mohapatra, the farmers were allowed to sell their produce on Monday and Wednesday between 8 am and 11 am on the premises of PS College.

However, this arrangement gave little respite to the farmers who are forced to sell maize for Rs  3-Rs  6 per kg, ladyfinger for Rs  5 per kg, pumpkin for Rs  3- 4 per kg and green chilly for Rs  10 per kg.

However, the wholesalers are not complaining as is evident from the skyrocketing price of vegetables in Rourkela and other towns of the district. Similar is the plight of vegetable farmers in the Covidhit Ganjam district. The worst sufferers are those who have grown brinjal on their farmland.

Sorada block of the district is known for the cultivation of the vegetable. Owing to lockdown, the farmers who grow their crops after buying seeds from neighbouring Nayagarh district, are no longer able to transport their produce to Khurda, Puri, Bhadrak, Balasore and Cuttack districts. Adhikari Suara of Gochcha village had grown brinjal over three acre land.

He said that his crop was damaged as he waited for permission from the authorities concerned to transport it to other districts. Even as brinjal is sold for Rs  50 per kg in markets in Berhampur, it fetches a measly Rs  2-Rs  3 per kg in rural areas. Meanwhile, the district administration has assured to look into the issue.

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