BERHAMPUR: Hoping to reap a bumper harvest this year owing to favourable climatic conditions, most farmers in the Ganjam district are likely to face disappointment with only 25 per cent of them registering with the government to sell their Kharif produce for 2022-23.
District agriculture officer DK Khuntia said except for a few blocks, transplantation of paddy has already been completed in most of the areas. Out of 4,08,548 hectares of agricultural land in the district, the target was fixed to cultivate Kharif paddy on 1,70,328 hectares.
However, cultivation was delayed due to erratic rain and lack of irrigation in the month of June. Though the district received normal rainfall in July, it remained inadequate. Rain during the second week of August due to low pressure over the Bay of Bengal created favourable conditions for paddy cultivation in the district.
The process of farmers’ registration for the sale of paddy started on July 15 and ended on August 23. While 1,22,938 farmers were able to get registered, 10,983 are on the waiting list. As many as 370 PACS, 93 women self-help groups and one pani panchayat were involved in the registration process.
Earlier, farmers used to register online but this year the process was carried out manually. The farmers were asked to visit the centres in their areas with records of rights and other documents for completing the registration process. After their data was updated, they were sent an OTP on their mobile phones based on which their names were registered, said Antaryami Behera of a PAC who was involved in the process.
However, the process proved counter-productive as visiting the centres is not only expensive but a time-consuming process for most farmers, said the secretary of Rushikulya Rayat Mahasabha, Simanchal Nahak. He said the district has over five lakh farmers and sharecroppers.
However, 3.5 lakh are yet to register themselves for selling their produce to the government.