Kotpad,: In the ongoing Rabi season, around 3 lakh quintals of paddy are expected to be procured in the Kotpad region. With this in mind, farmers have been actively preparing for procurement. However, untimely rainfall has severely disrupted their efforts.
Farmers, who had harvested their paddy and were drying it on highways and roads, are now struggling to save it from both rain and intense sun. On the other hand, millers are not arriving to lift the paddy from the mandis, and several farmers have complained that they have not yet received their procurement tokens.
The India Meteorological Department has already declared the onset of the monsoon in Odisha, further deepening farmers’ worries. If the government and administration had started procurement on time, farmers could have sold their paddy with ease. Additionally, timely procurement would have allowed farmers to begin preparations for the upcoming Kharif season.
Just a few days ago, farmers from Kotpad and nearby areas met with the District Collector and demanded the immediate opening of procurement centers (mandis). However, the administration has not yet taken any clear steps or provided a timeline for when the mandis will open.
This administrative inaction has sparked intense dissatisfaction among farmers. As the monsoon progresses, if paddy is not lifted quickly, there is a high risk that Fair Average Quality (FAQ) standards may not be met, leading to heavy losses for the farmers.
Therefore, there is a growing demand from the farming community for the District Collector to urgently intervene and start procurement operations immediately.