Procurement of paddy in Nuapada district during 2015-16 Kharif season was about 78,000 metric tonne (MT). It was about 40 per cent less than the procurement of last Kharif of 1.30 lakh MT in 2014-15.
Kharif paddy production in Nuapada district was about 1.82 lakh MT in 2014-15. The Agriculture as well as the district Statistical departments, however, are tight-lipped on revealing about the paddy production figure this year, as the procurement figure seems to be abnormally high against the backdrop of a drastic reduction in paddy production due to severe drought situation.
The district faced severe drought during 2015-16 Kharif and according to report of the Agriculture department, the crop loss was between 70 to 80 per cent. Paddy crop even failed in the irrigated areas because the irrigation potentials of the dams and MIPs drastically fell due to lack of rain in July-August. The Agriculture department earlier in October-November had reported that, out of 27,000 hectares under paddy transplantation, 57 per cent remained uncultivated due to lack of rain. likewise, beusaning could not be done in more than 50 per cent of land covered under direct sowing. This means, more than 50 per cent of the land under paddy crop remained fallow due to drought.
The Agriculture department, however, is unwilling to reveal about the Kharif production status of 2015-16. “You please don’t ask me about the paddy production; we don’t have any figure, you either take the procurement figure as the total production of this district or ask the Statistical department about the same,” said the Deputy Director of Agriculture (DDA), Nuapada.
The paddy procurement figure will always be less than production figure because the farmers only sell their surplus after retaining a portion of the produce for consumption and seed. In the year 2014-15 a total of 16,238 farmers had registered with the OCSC for selling paddy and the procurement was 62 per cent of the paddy produced in that year. But the figures for the Kharif 2015-16 are confusing. If the joint crop cutting report of the Revenue, Statistical and Agriculture departments on crop loss submitted to the Government for claiming input subsidy against crop loss due to natural calamity is to be believed, then the procurement figure of 78,000 MT seems to be abnormal. The total production of paddy during Kharif 2015-16 with 70 per cent less production than the previous year would be about 55,000 MT. If the quantity retained by the farmers at the rate of 15 quintals by each for a total of registered 16,196 farmers is taken into consideration, the total quantity available for sale further dips to about 30,000 MT. Against this backdrop, the procurement of 78,000 MT paddy during the current Kharif is certainly questionable.
“It has been a regular practice by the custom millers to manipulate records to show more procurements than the actual quantity of paddy procured. The millers in connivance with the corrupt officials make a lot of money by making fake entry in the records. The actual shortfall in stock of paddy and rice is gradually adjusted by procuring paddy from Chhatishgarh. Hence, an investigation into the procurement of the current Kharif is necessary. Verification of records versus actual rice and paddy stock of custom millers would bring out the truth,” said District Press Club secretary Tapan Dash.
Tapan’s speculation might be true. There are instances in the past, where the procurement is higher than total production of the district. In the year 2009-10, when the total production of paddy in Rabi was only 7,000 quintals in Khariar block, the procurement was more than 67,000 quintals. Investigation had revealed that the farmers who received compensation for crop loss had sold hundreds of quintals of paddy that year. The matter was reported to the Vigilance and when some of the mills were raided, it was proved that the actual stock of rice and paddy available were much less than the quantity shown in the stock registers.
“There is every possibility that the same practices have been adopted this year. A comparison of the input subsidy payment register and the paddy procurement register would reveal whether farmers receiving input subsidy for crop loss have also sold high quantity of paddy to the OCSC,” added Tapan.