Kendrapara: Cultivation of cash crops like sugarcane, jute, arhar, and sunflower is on the wane in this district due to a number of reasons. Among them is the lack of irrigation facilities, the closure of a sugarcane crushing mill and proper marketing opportunities, sources said Tuesday. The economy of Kendrapara district is agriculture oriented. More than 70 per cent of the residents of this district are dependent on agriculture for their livelihood.
However, due to the various problems they face, more and more farmers are turning towards other means of income. Sources pointed out that even a few years back, sugarcane cultivation was being carried out on 15,000 hectares of land. Now it has been reduced to only 1,000 hectares. Sugarcane farmer Akshaya Behera of the Pattamundai area said that farmers in Garadpur, Marshaghai, Derabish, Pattamundai, Aul and Rajkanika blocks were into sugarcane cultivation even five-10 years back. This was because of the presence of a sugarcane-crushing mill.
However, with the mill closing down, most of these farmers have stopped sugarcane cultivation. Whatever cultivation is done is for the festive season, Behera added. Similarly, a jute research centre has been lying defunct for a long time. Hence people are not going in for jute cultivation. Sources said people in this district were cultivating pulses like arhar and sunflower in the past, but that has been abandoned due to a lack of proper water supply and the absence of mandis.
Locals pointed out farmers will only be attracted to cultivate various products only if there is an uninterrupted supply of water. Farmer Niranjan Parida of Kansar village under Kendrapara block pointed out that spiralling labour costs are another reason why people are turning away from agriculture. He informed me that he was growing arhar and sunflower on 15 acres of land, but this year he could not do so as costs have increased.
As a result, his two sons have migrated to Surat to earn their livelihood. Farmer leader Gayadhar Dhal said the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ scheme of the Centre and the state government’s promise to give special attention to agriculture in this district is yet to be implemented. “The state government had promised to dig up an irrigation canal. However, it hasn’t been done in the last 28 years,” Dhal said. Dhal said sugarcane cultivation should be promoted as there is a need for 2.21 lakh MT of sugar in Odisha. However, first, the government has to provide proper marketing facilities for the product. Local intellectual Mir Abbu Obeda said water management is a major problem in Kendrapara district. The only way to solve it is to link the rivers in the district. It will end the irrigation woes and also minimise the damages due to floods, Obeda added.
Senior agriculture scientist Surya Narayan Mishra of Krishi Vigyan Kendra at Jajang said that Kendrapara district receives sufficient rainfall and has four types of soils for which farmers should take up integrated farming. They should dig up ponds to collect rainwater and take up cultivation of vegetables, fruits, mushrooms, turmeric and medicinal plants to boost their incomes.