Bhubaneswar: Farmers in Odisha are time and again robbed by the wrath of natural calamities that repeatedly hits the state. The sudden threat of cyclone is once again threatening to ruin the long labour of the farmer as this is the peak time of yielding in the crops.
Most of the farmers in the district of Gajapati are found selling paddies at comparatively very low prices as they do not have enough space to store the products due to the unexpected approach of the cyclone and the mandies are not yet open for selling. Because of the calamity alerts and a possibility of destruction, the farmers are compelled to make pitiful trades of their crops at a dismal cost. This will certainly affect both the market situation of the state as well as the condition of the farmer in the forthcoming time.
The Odisha University of Agriculture & Technology (OUAT) has issued an advisory notice to all the farmers in the state regarding the anticipated rainfall in the State generated by a low pressure between November 30 and December 2.
The institute’s experts have instructed farmers that they should harvest the paddies which are 85% ripe as quickly as possible before the rain starts. Moreover, the farmers are advised to do threshing and cleaning works to protect the grains or keep the products in a safe place by covering them with plastic sheets. This will protect the stock from getting wet.
As per reports, this year the government had fixed the paddy procurement price at Rs 1,940 per quintal. But due to the sudden warning of calamity, the farmers are left with no other options but to sell it at Rs 900-1,000 per quintal.
“In Gajapati district in about 35,000 hectares paddy is being produced, but the untimely rains have already eroded 20,000 hectares last month. The farmers are in a state of shock and being forced to sell their hard-earned crops to protect it from being destroyed ” comments Surya Narayan Pattnaik, President of the District farmers association.
-OdishaAge
