BERHAMPUR: With the date of procurement of paddy in Ganjam drawing closer, the district administration is pulling out all stops, not only to meet the target by enlisting the maximum number of farmers but also to prevent distress sale.
Paddy procurement in the district commences on December 23. Collector Dibya Jyoti Parida said all possible measures have been taken this year to meet paddy procurement target in the district, particularly to prevent distress sale by farmers.
Sufficient time has been given to farmers for registration and by now 1,46,504 farmers have enlisted and a target has been set to procure 4,48,176 quintals this kharif season, he added. He is hopeful of a good harvest and said despite a similar scenario last year, at least 4,44,856 quintal paddy was procured from the farmers.
“Paddy production will be more than the target fixed for the season this year,” he added. The collector said some vested interest traders are trying to demoralise farmers by spreading false information about lucrative prices and such activities, if found, will be dealt severely as under no circumstance, the farmers would be allowed to be exploited.
The administration, by using satellite imagery, is also eliminating those trying to register by submitting fake documents. As per the satellite survey, in 23 tehsils of the district, as many as 2,31,302 suspected plots were put to field verification across 2,759 villages.
By Sunday, survey of 1,70,938 plots has been completed and at least 11,309 plots have been blocked due to their suspicious nature. Another 27,825 plots are awaiting a final decision. About 1,31,804 plots were approved during the verification.
The survey is likely to be completed before procurement starts as the name of the fake farmers would be deleted from the list.
District chief civil supplies officer Puspa Munda said this year apart from the usual measures, the farmers were made aware about the procurement much earlier and hoped that procurement will be held transparently and smoothly. He said the purchase price of paddy including the input subsidy has been fixed at Rs 3,100 per quintal, which will benefit the farmers.
Simanchal Choudhury, a farmer of Khamarigaon area in Digapahandi block said due to inadequate irrigation, around 20 pc cultivable land have been left barren. But rest of the areas will see a bumper crop and the unseasonal rain notwithstanding, he hopes to yield one and half time more paddy production, Choudhury owns around 8 acre of land.