JAGATSINGHPUR: As the administration prepares for the approaching storm, farmers of Jagatsinghpur find themselves in a spot of bother due to lack of storage facilities and threshing floors to store their harvested paddy crops.
As advised by the administration, the farmers have lifted their paddy from fields ahead of the cyclone but are now grappling with shortage of storage space. Sources said of the total 198 panchayats, only 50 have threshing floors.
Similarly, of the 105 primary agriculture cooperative societies in the district, 25 have storage facilities. Though farmers had raised the storage issue several times in the past, no steps were taken to address the problem.
Farmer leader Devi Prasad Moharana said the administration has readied cyclone shelters but no thought has been given to the storage of harvested paddy crops and vegetables of farmers. “The administration’s advisory to store harvested crops without providing proper infrastructure is meaningless for farmers,” he said.
Chief district agriculture officer Rajkishore Das admitted that threshing floors are not available in all the panchayats and hence, many farmers are facing difficulties in storing their crop.