Kendrapara: Sunflower cultivation has failed to find many takers in Kendrapara district due to lack of training and sponsorship by the state government.
The highly profitable sunflower farming is being ignored in Kendrapara district despite the district’s immense potential for cultivation of the crop and heavy market demand for its oil.
The members of Maa Mangala Women Self-Help Group (SHG) at Koilipur’s Charipokharia village under Rajkanika block have cultivated sunflowers on seven acres of land for the second year in a row. The experience which they gained in the first year of cultivation has matured them and prepared them better to take up the farming in a more organised manner.
The sunflower oil produced by them has received wide acceptance from customers in the local market. The women have become an example for others to emulate.
However, their success has failed to stir up any interest among other farmers towards the cash crop due to lack of training and sponsorship by the state government.
Local intelligentsia claimed that the cultivation done during the Rabi season can lead to establishment of small-scale industries and contribute to the economy of the district if it is encouraged.
Local intelligentsia Ashis Kumar Senapati said that the price of edible oil is witnessing a constant increase in the country. The price rise of edible oil along with petrol, diesel and LPG cylinders has become a cause of concern for the common man. India is laying stress on import of palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia after a stoppage in import of sunflower oil from Russia and Ukraine.
Indonesia has imposed restrictions on export of palm oil while Malaysian government has increased its prices. To combat such a situation, the then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri had called for the green revolution in 1968. As a result, India has now become a leading exporter of wheat, Senapati said.
Similarly, sunflower cultivation should be encouraged in order to tide over the edible oil crisis plaguing the country, he said. The air, water and soil of Kendrapara district are conducive for sunflower cultivation but the need of the hour is proper training and sponsorship for the farmers to take up the cash crop, he added.
Pabitra Kumar Pati, a resident of Patisahi village under Garadpur panchayat, said sunflower cultivation was first done on an experimental basis over 30 hectares of land in four panchayats of Garadpur block under Rashtriya Krushi Vikash Yojana. However, the absence of proper marketing facilities or mandis is weaning the farmers from sunflower cultivation, he added.
A farmer leader Rashmiranjan Choudhury said that agricultural investment makes up the lion’s share of the district’s annual plan. However, this is not done in reality. The district can be an example in sunflower farming if water management is strengthened in the district.
Farming can be taken up on over 40,000 hectares of land in the district. Around 55 per cent of oil can be collected from sunflower seeds which will lead to establishment of small and minor industries.
The Agriculture and Horticulture departments, Krushi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), local political representatives, administrators, voluntary outfits, pani panchayat and farmers club should join hands to take up sunflower farming to a greater height. The engagement of women SHGs in more numbers could usher in a revolution in production of sunflower oil. Similarly, proper training and financial assistance to the farmers through Agriculture Technology Management Agency (ATMA) can take the cultivation forward, he added.
When contacted, deputy director Debadas Dutta of district Horticulture department and senior scientist Prabhanjan Mishra of KVK said that the state government has launched various schemes for sunflower cultivation. It has also planned to provide training to the interested farmers through ATMA and construct 118 godowns to collect the harvested sunflowers. The farmers can reap this benefit from this year, they added.
PNN
