Banki: Covid-induced lockdown and shutdown restrictions have proved to be a double whammy for the vegetable growers in Banara, Bhagipur, Kusupangi and Pathapur areas under Banki block in Cuttack district. They are also struggling to save their crops from the marauding wild boars and elephants.
These days, it is a common to see vegetables being left in the farmlands to rot in these villages. The farmers say they don’t have any option but to do this. “Traders are no longer coming to our villages as they used to earlier mainly due to the lockdown and shutdown restrictions. To earn some money we are selling our vegetables at roadsides at throwaway prices. Yet, we are not getting customers for our produce. Instead of carrying the sacks back home, we are forced to dump the vegetables on the roadside before returning home. We have now stopped harvesting the crops. Even though it hurts to see our crops rotting in the fields, we are left with no option,” some farmers lamented.
They said that they have been under severe mental pressure over how to earn enough to run their families and repay loans taken from societies.
“The Horticulture Department should have come to our rescue in these trying times. But the Damapada Horticulture officer seems to be maintaining a distance from us,” the worried farmers alleged.
They said that if there had been cold storage facility in Banki area it would have been a great relief for them. “If we had a cold storage in our locality we could have saved our crops from rotting on roadsides,” they added.
Locals urged the administration and Horticulture Department to come up with a solution so that the farmers’ produce get a market and the affected farmers are compensated for their crops.