Kendrapara: Despite huge potential and high market demand for sunflower, Kendrapara district is lagging behind in cultivation of the rewarding oilseed crop due to lack of patronage and necessary training by the government.
A women self-help group (SHG) at Charipokharia village under Koilipur panchayat of Rajkanika block has done sunflower cultivation on seven acre of land for the second year in a row.
The experience they gained in the first year prepared them to carry out the cultivation in the subsequent year, while the oil produced by them is in high demand among the consumers.
However, the cultivation of the rabi crop has failed to get a foothold in the district. This is because the district’s farmers are not evincing interest to take up the crop due to lack of patronage and necessary training from the state government.
The local intelligentsia said that if the farmers were encouraged to take up sunflower cultivation in a planned manner it might lead to establishment of small industries and strengthen the economy of the district in turn.
A local intelligentsia Ashis Kumar Senapati said that edible oil prices are on the rise in the past few months along with rising fuel prices. He said that India is laying stress on import of palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia after a halt in import of sunflower oil from Ukraine and Russia due to war. However, palm oil import has its own limitations. While the Malaysia government has increased the price of palm oil, Indonesia has imposed restrictions on its imports.
Sensing the inherent problems in imports, the then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri had called for revolution in food crop sector, as a result of which our country is now leading in wheat exports. Sunflower cultivation needs to be encouraged with state support to tide over the crisis in oil deficit.
The soil and climate of Kendrapara district are conducive for sunflower cultivation but lack of necessary training and government patronage hinders its cultivation.
A farmer Pabitra Kap of Garadpur panchayat said that sunflower cultivation was undertaken on 30 hectare of land in four panchayats of Garadpur block under Rashtriya Krushi Vikash Yojana in 2015. The farmers had then reaped a good harvest but lack of marketing facilities disappointed the farmers a lot.
A farmer leader Rashmiranjan Choudhury said the district administration claims to be spending the lion’s share of its annual budget for development of agriculture but it is not seen in reality.
The district can become an example in sunflower cultivation if the administration could make proper management of the water flowing in the district’s water bodies.
Over 40,000 hectare of land is suitable for sunflower cultivation as oil can be extracted from 55 per cent from the seeds grown here. This will lead to a growth of small and micro industries for extraction of the oil. The Agriculture department, Horticulture department, Krushi Vigyan Kendra, local political representatives, administrators, voluntary outfits, pani panchayat and farmers’ club should work in coordination to make sunflower farming a success.
The women members of SHGs should be involved to make the cultivation successful. Training through ATMA and government funding can take it forward.
When contacted, Debadas Dutta, deputy director of Horticulture department and KVK chief scientist Suryanarayan Mishra said that the state government has floated various schemes for sunflower cultivation. Plans are afoot to provide training through ATMA and 118 godowns have been constructed for storage of the harvest which will help the farmers reap profit this year.
PNN