Jajpur: Although the state government has reportedly established krushi seva kendras (KSKs) to rent agricultural equipment to farmers at a nominal price, lack of awareness among the peasants and apathy of the KSKs have rendered the scheme defunct while the resultant surge in agricultural input costs has denuded the profit margin of farmers. Official sources said the state government, in a bid to reduce the production cost of the crops, has established 2,795 KSKs during the period from FY 2013-14 to January 2024. KSKs provide tractors, power tillers, paddy harvesters & cutters, seedling planters, seeding machines, disc ploughs, sprinklers, motor pumps and pesticide sprayers to farmers on a fair price basis.
Though 10 years have elapsed since the rollout of the scheme, many farmers in rural areas are unaware of it. As a result, farmers in rural areas are shelling out more from their pockets to hire these farm equipment from private players. Observers have maintained that the lack of proper publicity of this scheme by the concerned department and the state government has left the KSKs to run only in pen and papers. As a result, paddy farmers’ cost of production has increased and profit reduced.
Sources said paddy farmers have reportedly spent around Rs 1,455 per quintal but sold it at a meagre Rs 2,183 in 2023-24 FY. Moreover, farmers in many areas have reportedly resorted to distress sale. They have sold their paddy to the middlemen and agents at a throwaway price of Rs 1,800 per quintal. Sources said expenditure per quintal of paddy has increased from Rs 1,208 in 2019-20 FY to Rs 1,245 in 2020-21 FY and further from Rs 1,293 in 2021-22 FY to 1,360 in 2022-23 FY. The cost of production per quintal of paddy is only increasing over the years. The cost of production per quintal of jowar stood at Rs 2,120, Rs 1,371 for bajra, Rs 1,394 for maize, Rs 2,564 for raggi, Rs 5,705 for green gram, Rs 3,029 for soyabean and Rs 4,411 for cotton.
Moreover, allegations of large-scale irregularities in various agricultural schemes are nothing new. Farmers are being demanded bribes anything between Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000 for sanction of a loan or enlistment of their names in agricultural schemes. The state government has ruled that secretary or managing director of a primary agricultural credit society (PACS) or the large area multipurpose society (LAMPS) can neither withhold nor use the loan passbook or chequebook of farmers.
However, this order is yet to be executed in letter and spirit as the officials of these societies continue to dictate terms over the farmers. Farmers have failed to bring any change in their financial condition as the cost of production has been rising. Farmers Damodar Das, Sudam Charan Sahu, Jogendra Sahu, Anurodh Swain and Jyotiranjan Mohanty said that they do not have any knowledge as to what a KSK does. They admitted that they came to know from this correspondent about renting of farm equipment at subsidised prices by the KSKs.
Currently, they are hiring a tractor at Rs 1,200 per hour and a paddy cutter at Rs 2,200 per hour from private vendors. When contacted, the assistant registrar of cooperative societies, Jajpur, Benudhar Mallick said KSKs are yet to become functional in Jajpur district while the state government claims to have established 22 KSKs in the district. Locals and farmers have alleged that this is nothing but an eyewash and the state government is just hoodwinking the people.
