BARGARH: Even as paddy procurement for the ongoing kharif season started amid high hopes, grain analyser machines, introduced for the first time, have slowed down the process in Bargarh district.
Farmers are reportedly apprehensive of selling their produce at mandis as they fear deductions and lower payments due to machine-generated quality assessments. For the first time, the government has implemented grain analyser machines to ensure transparency and uniformity in checking quality of paddy. However, the machines have sparked apprehensions among farmers, who are skeptical of the accuracy of the results and fear it might unfairly reject their produce and cause price cuts.
Farmer leader, Ramesh Mahapatra said, “We tested the same sample of paddy in three machines and result of each differed from the other. Such incidents have left the farmers in a state of uncertainty. If there was a criteria for FAQ paddy, what was the need of machine assessment?” he questioned while terming the new addition another tactic of the government to deceive the farmers.
Adding to the farmers’ concerns is the suspicion that the machines may be used to deny them the `800 bonus per quintal announced for the procurement season. “We fear that the machine will find faults in our produce and reduce the amount we are entitled to receive,” said a farmer waiting at one of the procurement centres.
Officials, however, defended the use of the machines, emphasising they were introduced to maintain fairness and eliminate human bias in assessing grain quality. Despite the assurances, the farmers remain unconvinced and many of them are demanding a re-evaluation of the grain analyser’s role in the procurement process and a supplementary mechanism to address grievances. For the ensuing kharif season, as many as 1,55,366 registered farmers have been verified for selling their paddy. Sources informed as on Sunday, only around 600 quintal of paddy have been collected in the district.