Nuapada: Cultivation of non-paddy crops like wheat, maize and cotton is increasing in Komna block of Nuapada district. In the absence of adequate marketing facilities in the district, farmers are not getting reasonable price against their produce.
However, farmers have appealed to the District Collector in writing Thursday to open a mandi beside the national highway at Jadamunda for wheat, maize and cotton. They are being forced to sell non-paddy crops under distress, local farmers said.
Komnam, a sufficiently rain-fed area and fertile with black cotton soil, is a highly productive area, Farmers find it profitable to cultivate these non-paddy crops. During 2016, the annual yield of cotton in Nuapada block was 8,243 quintals, Komna block accounted for 37,814 quintals, Sinapali 1,624 quintals, Khariar 10,332 quintals and Boden block 11,516 quintals, departmental sources said.
In the same period, the annual yield of maize in Nuapada block was 24,795 quintals, Komna 35,600 quintals, Khariar 25,400 quintals, Boden 71,195 quintals and Sinapali 1,624 quintals, the sources added.
As the production of non-paddy crops in Komna block is comparatively more, a mandi in the area would bring betterment in the fiscal standing of farmers. Local farmers have requested the district administration to take early steps in this regard.
PNN
