Nabarangpur, Nov 29: Zonal-level maize buyer–seller meetings were organized separately at the District Chief Agriculture Office conference hall and at the District Collector’s conference hall. The invited guests highlighted the adverse situations arising from the excessive use of chemical fertilizers and advised farmers to adopt organic farming. These meetings have now been successfully conducted in Odisha.
At the meeting held under the chairmanship of District Chief Agriculture Officer Sudhiranjan Behera, representatives from 24 Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs) of the district were present. A target of purchasing 30,000 tonnes of maize from the district had been set for the current year.
Koraput District Chief Agriculture Officer Gokul Chandra Pradhan stated that Nabarangpur alone produces 40% of the total maize production in the region. RMC Secretary Kapilendra Sasmala advised traders to work with a service-oriented mindset toward farmers.
On the other hand, the demand for maize in the national market has decreased. Many ethanol companies have not yet started purchasing maize. While the government-fixed price is ₹2,400 per quintal, the market price has dropped to ₹1,800. As a result, both farmers and traders are suffering losses. Therefore, traders demanded that the state government intervene to resolve the issue.
During the meeting, Dr. Shashanka Lenka (KVK Scientist), ADO Anil Kumar Praharaj, ADO Biswajit Das, along with 9 buyers and 24 FPC seller members, were present. The District Chief Agriculture Officer requested ethanol companies to purchase 1 lakh tonnes of maize.
Similarly, in another meeting held at the District Collector’s conference hall under the chairmanship of District Collector Dr. Maheshwar Swain, the District Chief Agriculture Officer presented the discussions and details. The Collector instructed that necessary steps be taken to ensure that district maize farmers do not suffer due to lack of market opportunities.