PHULBANI: Vegetable farmers in the district might be reaping massive produce year on year but a large chunk of it goes waste as the only large cold storage at G Udayagiri is defunct since 1981 while 17 new cold storage built in different parts of the district continue to remain inoperational.
Conducive for the cultivation of vegetables and fruits, Kandhamal has been one of the largest producers of organic beans, cauliflower, tomato, brinjal, cabbage, onion and potatoes. But farmers are deprived of profit due to a lack of cold storage facilities besides market linkage.
Resultantly, most farmers sell their produce at throwaway prices to middlemen and traders. As per a report by the horticulture department, about 174 tonnes of vegetables, onions and potatoes are produced every year covering around 18000 hectares of land.
The cold storage set up in G.Udaygiri in 1981 by the Agency Marketing Co-operative Society (AMCS) was benefitting farmers of nearby blocks of Tikabali, G.Udaygiri, Raikia and Chakapad. But soon, it was rendered non-functional reportedly due to mismanagement and excess electricity bills. This is despite the fact that in 2018, the district administration launched Mission 171 (in as many panchayats) for effective livelihood support to farmers in the agriculture & allied sector, pumping in lakhs of rupees under various schemes.
In 2016-17, the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) of Balliguda and Phulbani set up 17 mini cold storages with 25 metric ton capacity in different places of the district. However, with no managing committee, the cold storages are yet to be operational.
Project Administrator ITDA Birendra Dash said since there is no profit in the project due to the high electricity bill no group or co-operative society is coming forward for the management of the cold storage. “The problem will be sorted out soon and cold storage made functional,” Das added.
The Agriculture Production Cluster in Tribal Regions of Odisha scheme was also launched with the aim of creating a single producers group of about 200 women farmers and providing them with farming assistance as well as assigning them cold storage management and market linkage.
It is pertinent to mention that 60 blocks (including Phulbani, Balliguda and K.Nuagaon of Kandhamal district ) from 12 tribal hilly districts of the state were included in the scheme. Deputy Director of Horticulture Manoj Kumar Das said, “Producers group has already been formed in these blocks and soon they will be given the responsibility of managing the cold storage.”
Store story
17 cold storages were constructed in 2016-17 at a cost of Rs 20 lakh each
Two cold storages were constructed by Phulbani ITDA in Phiringia and Khajuripada blocks
Phiringia storage shut down due to high electricity bill
Vegetable growers’ co-operative society managing the storage could not afford it