BHUBANESWAR: The State government has had to surrender Rs 9 crore production subsidy to the Centre for the negligence of the Agriculture and Farmers’ Empower department.
The department which received the Central assistance in 2021-22 for promotion of hybrid paddy seeds to improve the seed replacement rate (SRR) to retain the hybrid vigour and increase productivity could not disburse the fund among the seed growing farmers before the closure of the financial year. As a result, around 6,000 farmers who had supplied certified hybrid seeds of drought, flood, saline and pest resistance varieties to the Odisha State Seed Corporation (OSSC) were deprived of their incentives which is given at the rate of Rs 2,000 per quintal.
The Centre has approved production subsidy at Rs 20 per kg and distribution subsidy at Rs 25 per kg. “I have supplied 150 quintals of certified seeds to OSSC during this kharif season. Repeated reminders to the district officials of the corporation and Agriculture department yielded no result,” said Bargarh farmer Gokula Pradhan. Similar complaints are coming from districts where farmers have registered with the OSSC for developing seeds under the Central scheme.
While sources in the Agriculture department said that the funds could not be disbursed due to technical snag in the Public Finance Management System (PFMS), an official window of the Ministry of Finance for transaction, informed sources said it is sheer negligence on the part of the authorities concerned for which the Central assistance could not be availed.
The assistance is there with the State government after provision was made in the Central government budget. The Agriculture department had enough time for disbursement but for its callousness, the farmers are suffering.
The cereal production incentive is part of the Rastriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) under which states are provided breeder seeds for development of foundation and certified seeds under Bringing Green Revolution to Eastern India (BGREI) programme.
Normally, 50 per cent of the production subsidy should be given in advance to the implementing agencies to facilitate advance preparation for undertaking hybrid rice production programme, especially to enable them to procure sufficient quantities of seeds of parental lines, chemicals and other necessary inputs. The rest 50 per cent need be paid immediately after the actual production figures are available from the implementation agencies.
Farmers who had supplied certified green gram and black gram seeds in 2016-17 lost their incentives due to such laxity of the department.