Beguniapada: Government-appointed private dealers and some multi-purpose cooperative societies in Beguniapada block in Ganjam district are accused of ‘deliberately’ not maintaining stocks of certified seeds so as to help private firms in their business. As a result, farmers failing to get seeds at subsidised rates are being forced to buy seeds of companies at inflated prices.
Sources said the certified paddy seeds of different varieties are being supplied by the Odisha State Seeds Corporation (OSSC) and distributed to farmers through multi-purpose cooperative societies and government-approved private dealers. But the private dealers and the multi-purpose cooperative societies have failed in distributing the seeds to the farmers before the Kharif season.
For some days, the cooperative societies have distributed the paddy seeds but after that they have stopped. The farmers alleged that they have been visiting the cooperative societies and also the private dealers’ sales counters for months but without any result.
When contacted, the secretary of cooperative societies said, “We have already deposited the draft at the OSSC but the cooperative society has not provided the seeds to us yet.”
The seeds distribution officer Santosh Kumar Behera of OSSC said, “We will supply the seeds to the agencies and cooperative societies within two to three days.”
But the farmers alleged that the private organisations and the multi-purpose cooperative societies are not maintaining stocks. However, the seeds they are selling to the farmers are more than the maximum retail price set by the government.
Additional Agriculture Officer Prakash Chandra Behera said the price of the seeds which are of old variety is around Rs 360 and the price of new varieties of seeds is around Rs 400.
According to the farmers, the private agencies and the multi-purpose cooperative societies are selling the seeds at more than Rs 420 for every variety.
Farmers in the block have demanded to resolve their problem and take proper action against the dishonest private dealers.
PNN
