Bhawanipatana: Farmers in various panchayats under this block in Kalahandi district produce plenty of maize. But in the absence of a well-developed procurement system, they face distress sale.
This is not the first time this problem has been seen in the district, every year maize farmers in Kalahandi and Nabarangpur face post-harvest difficulties.
Aggrieved farmers said they have to depend on middlemen to sell their produce and this has been happening every year. This year too, middlemen have taken advantage of the distress sale of maize and buy the crop at throwaway prices.
Unlike previous years, the problem is that due to Covid-19, farmers are badly affected. They are desperate to sell the crop anyhow to meet their daily expenses at this critical time.
This has handed out a golden opportunity to traders and middlemen to haggle for low prices of the crops. As a result, the maize farmers have to incur losses due to poor price. Farmers have to sell maize for Rs 900 to Rs 1000 per quintal whereas the minimum support price of the crop is Rs 1850.
Reports said, distress sale of the maize is reported from panchayats like Borda, Gurujung, Dumuria, Palna, Artal, Senpur, kendupati, Borbhatta, Madiguda, Matia, Sikua, Changan, Karlapada, Kalam, Mading, Chheliamal, Kamathana and Malagan.
In the current year, farmers in these panchayats have cultivated maize in 1,250 hectares. They claimed that due to favourable weather condition, they had good production. They hoped for earning handsomely from maize sale, but the government has not made mandis in the block.
“Lack of procurement centres has provided a golden opportunity to buy maize for low price. We are unable to bargain for the price matching the MSP,” lamented farmers like Sanjib Bhoi, Jyotiranjan Bhoi, Sitaram Meher, Bidyanath Pradhan, Radhamohan Bhoi.
They also pointed out that even though they had drawn the attention of the district administration toward the plight of the maize farmers, no step has been taken till date.
They have demanded immediate steps for opening of the mandis to save the farmer from distress.
PNN