Phulbani: The state government’s plan to promote potato cultivation in Kandhamal district has gone haywire with the seeds allegedly being sold in open markets much to the disappointment of farmers, sources informed Monday. The seeds had been supplied to Kandhamal district for sale among farmers in Phulbani, Phiringia and Khajuripada blocks. The matter came to the fore after several quintals of potato seeds were found being sold in the weekly haat and the local vegetable markets of this town.
Sources said this has happened due to alleged connivance between some unscrupulous officials and traders. It is alleged that huge quantities of potato seeds have been sold off to traders instead of the farmers who urgently need it to start cultivation. The district administration had earlier set a target for potato cultivation on 100 hectare of land in the district. So far a supply of 970 quintal of potato seeds for cultivation on 60 hectare of land has been done. A farmer having a minimum of 0.1 hectares of land will get 1.5 quintal or three packets of potato seeds. It had been decided that farmers will get the seeds at a subsidised price of Rs 45 per kg and Rs 1,800 for buying 1.5 quintal. The price was fixed despite the state government incurring heavy losses.
However, the price of potato seeds was increased to Rs 48 per kg as three rupees were fixed as transportation costs. Requesting anonymity, some traders admitted to the open sale of potato seeds in the market. They said that only a handful of farmers have got the seeds in this district. Also, no detailed figure is available on the actual sale of seeds to farmers in Khajuripada and Phiringia blocks. As per the rule, farmers after planting the seeds will have to take a photograph of their cultivated farmland and upload it to the ‘Go Sugam’ portal. Similarly, block level officials will visit the spot and verify the supply of the seeds to the farmers by tallying it with their respective bills. Later, they will submit a report to the Odisha government.
However, with the portal not working in a proper manner all plans have gone haywire. It has allegedly created an opportunity for the dishonest officials and traders to make a fast buck. When contacted, Mihir Samantray, deputy director, the Horticulture department rejected the charges stating that despite the work being done offline the GPS photograph of whether the farmers have received the seeds or not will reveal if there are any discrepancies.