Bolangir: On the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya in April this year, the state government provided a mobile soil testing van to this district, bringing cheers to farmers, most of whom own non-irrigated lands.
But this van, costing about Rs 65 lakh, is hardly serving its purpose, farmers alleged.
While it is said that the vehicle has so far toured many places of the district during the last four months, the deputy director of agriculture (DDA) informed that ‘soil health cards’ have been given away to 10,000 farmers.
But farmers of Badatelenpali village under Sadar block alleged that they are yet to get any benefits from the van.
The van had gone to Badatelenpali May 23 and samples of soil from the farming lands were collected. The farmers were told that they would get their ‘soil health cards’ within two to three days.
Though months have passed, the farmers are yet to receive the cards, necessary for carrying out cultivation.
As the farmers are still unaware of the category of their soil and what types of manures their lands require, they have not started cultivation so far.
They had also met Collector Arindam Dakua and complained.
DDA Sridhara Das summoned two staff associated with the mobile van and they said they had not given the health cards to farmers. They could not give any satisfactory answer regarding the inordinate delay. Das directed them to disburse the cards immediately.
When asked about the allegation of some farmers that they have not received agriculture experts’ suggestion on the basis of ‘soil health cards’, Das said experts had visited some places but had no detailed information about the places they visited.
He failed to give any details regarding the number of places and samples the van has collected so far.
“Rs 65 lakh worth mobile van is moving in the district, but we are not
getting the promised service,” alleged the farmers.