Potato procurement from the farmers in the district has been dismal. As a result, they are resorting to distress sale. They are selling their produce to West Bengal traders as the district has hardly any space to store the tuber.
This issue was raised in the vigilance monitoring committee held here on Wednesday last. The meeting while was presided over by the MP RK Jena, MlAs Aswini Patra and Nityananda Sahu raised the plights of the farmers in the meeting.
The local representatives of Jaleswar and Basta said Markfed which was assigned to procure tuber from the framers, only bought the produce from the farmers for three days, i.e. 28, 29 and 30 of March.
In the district out of 930 hectares of potato cultivated land, while the yield is about 9,000MT, the Markfed procured only 111 MT. Since the district has only one cold storage with about 5,000 MT capacity to accommodate potato, the farmers are forced to go for the distress sale.
They are being exploited at the hands of traders of Bengal, it was alleged. MP Jena directed that the water shade mission be extended to other five blocks of the district uncovered so far. Jena besides informing that in Baleswar a Kalyan Mandap would be constructed with a cost of Rs 8 crore in the town, also said in other Assembly constituencies of the district, Kalayan Mandaps would constructed on 0.5 acres of land.
Similarly in each block, he said, sports ground would be built at a cost Rs1.6 crore with outdoor and indoor stadium facilities over eight acres of land. The issue of completion of roads under PMGSY was also discussed.