At a time when pest attack, particularly by Chakada Poka reached a gargantuan proportion in the entire command area, duplicate and date-expired medicine sale in the market aggravated the farmers’ woes further.
The result being farmers are not eligible to get the desired yields in spite of spraying the pesticides purchased from the local marker at a high cost.
One such fraudulent practice has come to light recently with a farmer exposing a businessman selling expired medicine near Pahadsrigda under Attabira block.
The farmer also brought the matter to the notice of the district administration, the Agriculture Department and also the Krushak Sangathan.
As per information, farmer Dasarath Bhoi of Kandapli village purchased a pesticide from Dhanalaxmi Agro Store at Rengali-Pahadsrigda road.
But later, he saw that the expiry date of the pesticide was over two years back, i.e. on August 25, 2016.
He immediately informed the matter to the appropriate authorities.
Even members of the Krushak Sangathan when went to the pesticide store to purchase the same, the businessman gave them another expired one for which there was tension for a while.
“Taking advantage of the simplicity and ignorance of the farmers, some unscrupulous businessmen are doing all that, ultimately leading to most unfortunate incidents like farmers suicide,” said Lingaraj, a front line farmer leader of the State.
“At the same time the Government machinery has also grossly failed to control such incidents,” Lingaraj added.
Bargarh Collector Indramani Tripathy said, “I have already instructed the Agriculture Department to conduct an inquiry and submit a report immediately.”
“Playing with the fate of the farmers is totally unacceptable,” he added.