Post News Network
Khadial, Dec 23: Onion farmers of this block in Nuapada district are a distressed lot as the high-yielding seed supplied by the government to them to combat drought turned out to be of poor quality. The farmers have sought financial assistance from the district administration to deal with the situation.
The government had provided a quintal of onion seeds to 25 farmers of Sunari Sikuan village at Rs 620 per kg. The farmers sowed the seeds supplied by the National Seeds Corporation. However, a few days later, they found that the onion saplings have dried up.
They alleged that after suffering a heavy loss in paddy cultivation, they had cultivated onion by borrowing from various sources.
According to reports, the horticulture department has decided to cultivate onion on 410 hectares of farmland to combat the drought-like situation in the region. The farmers were provided 1 kg seed per hectare in five blocks of the district. They were also provided with Rs 1,200 as assistance for cultivating a hectare of farmland.
However, all the hopes of the farmers dashed due to the supply of poor quality seeds, they alleged.
Horticulturist Shailesh Kumar Patnaik refuted the allegation of poor quality seeds. He said the saplings withered due to cloudy weather. The farmers have not apprised the horticulture department of the matter as yet, he said, adding a probe would be conducted into the matter. PNN