BHUBANESWAR: Even as procurement operation for rabi crops has started picking up, farmers of coastal districts have urged the State Government to allow them to sell their surplus kharif paddy under price support system.
Leading the cause of the farmers, the BJP and Naba Nirman Krushak Sangathan (NNKS) said a large number of farmers of coastal district could not sell their surplus paddy due to twin problems, mismanagement in issue of online token followed by nationwide lockdown imposed by the Centre.
“Procurement of kharif paddy was virtually slowed down in the coastal regions a couple of weeks before the declaration of lockdown due to delay in issue of token and poor lifting of stock from paddy purchase centres (PPCs) by authorised rice millers,” said general secretary of State unit BJP Krushak Morcha Surath Biswal.
Though March 31 was the last date of 2019-20 kharif marketing season for procurement of paddy, the operation stopped 10 days ahead due to lockdown. Farmers who were issued tokens online for sale of their surplus stock are still waiting for the State Government to clarify if the token are valid or not.
Majorities of the mandis identified by the Government for paddy procurement were not functioning even after relaxation of Covid regulations for agriculture activities, Biswal said.All the farmers of the State suffered huge loss during the lockdown as they could not sell their produce including vegetables, a major source of earning during summer months.
The Government should take up the matter with the Centre to allow it as a special case for sale of kharif paddy in rabi season to benefit the farmers to repay their loans and other liabilities, said Akshya Kumar of NNKS.He reiterated his demand for payment a special monthly assistance of `5,000 for each farmer.