BERHAMPUR: Resentment is brewing among the farmers of Ganjam district over delay in paddy procurement and payment of crop loss compensation. First, the pest attack and later unseasonal rain broke the backbone of farmer community in the district. Now, lapses in the distribution of crop loss compensation to the farmers have posed serious problems.Sarat Panda of Tanhar village under Seragada block alleged that the crop loss assessment was undertaken randomly by the revenue officials. Several affected farmers were not included in the survey list.
On the other hand, as per the announcement, the farmers who were included in the list would not be eligible to sell their paddy at mandis. Similarly, several farmers are yet to receive Rupay card which is required to get crop loans from the banks, he added.Arjun Panda of Chikiti block said pest attack and untimely rain have damaged several acres of crop land in the district. While the administration is yet to open paddy procurement centres, farmers have resorted to distress sale of their produce to Andhra Pradesh-based traders. Due to unavailability of agriculture labourers in the area, farmers are hiring cutting and threshing machines by paying `2,500 to `3,000 per hour from Andhra Pradesh.
Taking advantage of the situation, the traders are purchasing paddy from the land directly by paying less price. While several trucks are transporting the paddy from the district to Andhra Pradesh daily, the administration has failed to check the distress sale, he added.
According to sources, paddy was cultivated on 2.15 lakh hectares (ha) of land in the district this year. Of this, more than 20,000 ha were destroyed by pest attack and 97,000 ha were damaged due to untimely rain last month. In order to compensate the farmers, the district administration has received `21.49 crore for crop loss over pest attack and another `111.98 crore for the damage due to rain.
Meanwhile, the district administration has asked the block authorities to open mandis in their areas from December 20. Bharatiya Vikash Parishad president Surendra Panigrahy said as per new guideline, small farmers and sharecroppers will get compensation, but real landowners will be deprived of it. He demanded compensation for landowners too.