Farmers harvesting paddy | Express
KENDRAPARA: The Odisha state civil supplies corporation (OSCSC) will procure 84,808.82 tonne of paddy from the farmers in Kendrapara. As many as 118 primary agriculture cooperative societies (PACSs) have been entrusted the responsibility of procuring paddy from the farmers. The procurement begins from December 28.
“After purchasing paddy from the farmers, the PACSs will hand them over to the rice mills. The millers will provide us with rice. The authority has fixed Rs 2,040 as the price per quintal of fair average quality paddy,” said district civil supplies officer (DCSO), Prasant Kumar Gantayak.
Stringent action will be taken against rice mill owners who do not abide by the norms of the OSCSP. “We are also making sure the paddies are collected in jute bags in accordance with the government’s mandate,” the DCSO added.
Around 44,000 farmers have registered to sell their paddy. All the registered and eligible farmers will be intimated regarding the date and quantity of paddy to be sold through SMS.“Field verification and validation of paddy growing areas through satellite imagery are being conducted to verify land details,” the officer said.
Meanwhile, farmers who had suffered losses in the devastating flood four months back, are selling their stocked paddy to the mill owners at throwaway prices just to meet their daily expenses.
“Since the PACSs are far from our villages, we prefer selling our produce at lower prices directly to the mills. The authorities should take steps to check such distress sale of paddy by opening PACSs in remote seaside villages of Jamboo, Suniti, Iswarapur and others,” said local farmer leader Umesh Chandra Singh.
