Mahakalapara: Basmati, a variety of long, slender-grained aromatic rice, is cultivated by the farmers under this block in Kendrapara district.
The paddy variety is mainly cultivated in Kharinasi, Batighar, Ramnagar, Petchhela, Jambu, Baulakani, Suniti, and Nanjura panchayats of the block because of its high demand among the rice-eating people.
However, farmers in this block, instead of selling the harvested Basmati paddy at the local mandis, are selling it to outside traders from Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal to make a fast buck.
This is because the outside traders pay them Rs 3,000 per quintal of paddy, while the government pays them only Rs 2,040 per quintal at the local mandis. The traders then sell the paddy for Rs 4,000 per quintal at local markets. Scenes of five to ten truckloads of basmati rice being transported to Kolkata and Andhra Pradesh are commonplace.
Moreover, the farmers face a deduction (katni-chhatni) of Rs 5 per quintal, while the outside traders procure their whole stock without making any deductions. This has severely hit the government’s move to streamline paddy sales and derailed the whole process.
This has also sparked concern among the local residents as they demanded intervention from the district administration and the state government to check the illegal procurement of paddy to outside traders.
Notably, the state government has been implementing various measures for the benefit of the farmers. It has set a price of Rs 2,040 per quintal for farmers to sell their paddy at their nearest mandis.
The state Cooperative and Supplies departments have also opened 24 primary agricultural societies in the block to check the distress sale of harvested paddy by the farmers. However, the government’s fixation on low prices has hit the procurement of Basmati rice.
Reports said that the farmers here harvested this variety of paddy after spending a lot on its cultivation. As a result, farmers want more profit from their sales.
Taking advantage of the situation, traders from Andhra Pradesh and Kolkata, in connivance with the local traders, procure the paddy from the farmers at Rs 3,000 per quintal without any deduction, only to sell it later at their nearest market at Rs 4,000 per quintal.
When contacted, Block Cooperative Officer Jogendra Biswal said that he would order a probe and would take action if he received any complaints in this regard.
PNN/Agencies