Several farmers of the coastal district here are now worried following the district administration’s failure to supply them with required quantity of seed for the Kharif season.
The Government-sponsored seed supply centres in all the nine blocks of the district have not able to provide the required paddy seed, alleged District Krushak Sabha secretary Gayadhar Dhal.
If sources are to be believed, the farmers have planned to raise Kharif paddy in 1, 22,000 hectares of land in the district. They need 8,000 quintals of paddy seed, but the farmers alleged that the district administration has not supplied the much-needed paddy seed this year. Due to the shortage, the farmers are being compelled to purchase seed at higher costs from the open market.
When contacted, the District Agriculture Officer (DAO) Prafulla Chandra Mishra said every year the Agriculture Department provides only 10 to 15 per cent of the seed requirement to the farmers through the Odisha Seed Corporation. This year, 8,000 quintals of paddy seed are required but till date, the district Agriculture Department has provided about 6,000 quintals through cooperative societies and private dealers, he revealed.
The Agriculture Department has asked the Odisha Seed Corporation to provide the remaining paddy seed within the end of June, added Mishra.
Meanwhile, in the open market, while the price of Swarna variety of paddy seed is Rs 1,500 per quintal, the cost of other general varieties is Rs 1,350 per quintal.
“We are forced to buy Swarna variety at Rs1, 680 -Rs 1,700 and other varieties at Rs1, 500 per quintal due to a nexus between seed suppliers and agriculture officials,” alleged a few farmers.