Jaleswar: Farmers growing groundnuts in Jaleswar of Balasore district have resorted to distress sale of their produce in the absence of procurement system, a report said.
Traders from West Bengal are cashing in on the situation while the agriculture department is reportedly sitting pretty. As result, farmers are at a loss without availing right price of their produce, it was learnt. According to reports, most farmers in the area had cultivated groundnuts by taking seeds from middlemen of West Bengal. They are now bound to sell their produce to them, it was learnt.
According to a report of the agriculture department, groundnut has been cultivated in 9,800 hectares of land in Jaleswar agriculture district comprising Jaleswar, Bhograi and Baliapal blocks. Farmers such as Rabindra Das, Gyanendra Katuala, Jhadeswar Ghose, Amulya Ghose, Iswaneswar Ghose and Babula Dalie of Gobaraghata village alleged, “Groundnut seeds are not available to us in time.
The agriculture department makes delay in supplying seeds. Besides, the seeds supplied by the department are of poor quality.”
Rabindra claimed the seeds he had taken from the agriculture department in Jaleswar block were of substandard quality which resulted in poor yield.
He pointed out, “Farmers usually do not have adequate funds with them for groundnut cultivation. Hundreds of farmers bring quality seeds from Kiriti Jena, a middleman from Sunakania under Dantun police limits of West Bengal, without paying him any price but on a condition that the farmers would sell their produce only to him after harvest.”
As per the condition, Jena takes away the produce from the farmers at Rs 30 to 35 per kg. The farmers are paid their price only after he sells the produce. However, Jena sells groundnuts at Rs 90 per kg, the farmers said.
The farmers said the other reason to sell their produce to middlemen of West Bengal is that there is no provision of government procurement during the harvest time.
Many farmers are facing such a crisis in Kutasahi, Paikasida, Srirampur, Khudiamajisahi, Makidia, Gadasahi, Baliapal, Baiganbadia, Laxmannath, Rajpur, Rayaramchandrapur, Jhadapimpala, Paschimabada, Sikharpur, Dakhinapraharajpur and Olamara panchayats.
Besides, traders of Digha, Sholasangha, Chandanpur, Alankarpur of West Bengal provide groundnut seeds to farmers in Bhograi and Baliapal blocks.
When contacted, district agriculture officer Kiran Kumar Parida pleaded ignorance of the distress sale. He said the state government supplies certified seeds to farmers, but the latter use foundation seeds for high yield. The farmers demanded a high-level probe into the issue. PNN
