Deogarh district, otherwise known as ‘orchard’ of the State, is yet to make any progress in agro based industry. At the same time, farmers are yet to reap the benefit of their hard earned products.
The district is famous for mango, watermelon, litchi and many other fruits and vegetables. But it has yet to have a single agro based industry or food processing unit. The result being the producers always get exploited by the traders and the same is also continuing even now. However, the Krushi Bigyan Kendra (KBK) of Deogarh district has made all out efforts to popularize tomato cultivation in the district and it has been accepted by the farmers of the tribal inhabited Tileibani block.
“Tileibani block will be very soon converted as the tomato hub of the State and the farmers are sure to get the profit,” said head of the Krushi Bigyan Kendra Dr Sujit Kumar Nath.
Earlier most of the farmers were not getting a market and hence got exploited by the middlemen and unscrupulous business groups. But the situation has changed this time. Businessmen from Sambalpur, Jharsuguda, Angul, Dhenkanal and Cuttack are coming in large numbers and purchasing truckloads of tomato from the farmers. Hence, the matter of distress sale is now a matter of past, Dr Nath said.He further informed that due to guidance from agriculture, horticulture and KBK, the farmers of the Tileibani block are now growing unseasonal tomato that is giving them more value B'Kanika helps them for their financial upliftment.
“We are also providing them all sorts of developed technical knowhow, seed and fertilizers free of cost as most of the farmers are from tribal communities. The ITDA (Integrated Tribal Development Agency) is also helping them a lot,” Dr Nath added. “Unseasonal tomato cultivation and a good marketing system at the initiative of the Government officials have helped them a lot.
We are now getting good value of it,” said Rasananda Kujur, a farmer of Kalachipudadihi village of the block.