KENDRAPARA: The fate of a large number of potato growers in the coastal district of Kendrapara is now hanging in balance as the authorities are yet to provide them with its seeds for cultivation.
Sources said the Odisha Seed Corporation (OSC) is yet to provide the requisite amount of seeds to the farmers. While the official rate of the potato seeds stands at Rs 45 per kilogram, farmers get them at a subsidised rate of Rs 11.25 per kg.
“Many farmers stock the seeds in their homes and most of them buy them from the open market. We are waiting for the OSC to provide us with 2000 quintal of potato seeds soon,” said assistant director of Horticulture department Devdas Dutta.
Meanwhile, the price of potatoes has sky-rocketed due to its unavailability in the market. “Potatoes here are not sold at a proper price due to unavailability of cold storage facilities in the district,” said a farmer of Bharatpur village Prahallad Jena.
Farmers’ leader Umesh Chandra Singh further pointed out that the state government’s Potato Mission launched in 2015 has failed miserably. “It was launched to help farmers with cultivating potatoes and build cold storage units to preserve them during the harvesting season but the government failed to act on its words,” he said.
Earlier on September 4, 2021 Agriculture Minister Arun Kumar Sahoo while speaking on the Potato Mission admitted that it has failed to achieve the desired results. “While the annual consumers’ demand for potatoes is 12.88 lakh metric tonne, the farmers have managed to reap just 3.09 lakh metric tonne,” Sahoo had said adding Odisha has to depend on neighbouring West Bengal to meet the demands.