BHUBANESWAR: The delay in opening of mandis (procurement centres) in coastal and southern Odisha districts have given traders from Andhra Pradesh and other neighbouring states a golden opportunity to lift paddy directly from farmers’ fields.
With paddy harvesting going on in full swing in all districts except seven western Odisha districts of Bargarh, Balangir, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Sambalpur, Sonepur and Sundargarh, farmers too are willing to sell their produce even at Rs 1,500 to Rs 1,800 per quintal which is over 40 per cent less than the support price of Rs 3,100 per quintal including the input cost provided by the state government.
Even farmers who have registered with the state government to sell their stock at minimum support price (MSP) in the current kharif marketing season, are unwilling to wait for procurement centres to open.
“Inordinate delay in issuance of tokens coupled with the harassment meted out by mandi staff and irregular lifting of paddy by rice millers are the major reasons why farmers are opting to sell their stock to private traders,” said Ramesh Padhi, a farmer of Jeypore in Koraput district.
Other farmers Pradip Giri of Balasore, Bipin Khatai of Puri, Ganesh Nayak of Ganjam and Manmath Rout of Balangir also reported sale of paddy to private traders in their districts. Sources from Koraput, Gajapati, Ganjam, Balasore and Puri said traders from Andhra Pradesh had been purchasing paddy from prices ranging from Rs 1,500 per quintal in Balasore district to Rs 1,900 per quintal in Ganjam.
They cited the problems faced by western Odisha farmers over delay in issuance of tokens and paddy purchase.
“Farmers of Sonepur district staged road blockade for the third consecutive day on Sunday on the Binika-Barpali main road to protest delays in paddy procurement and issuance of tokens,” the sources said.
Admitting it as a fact, a rice miller, on condition of anonymity, said paddy with high moisture content is being sold to private traders.
“Basically, farmers with low landholding do not wish to put more labour and waste time to further process the paddy to bring it to fair average quality for sale at mandi points. They consider it wise to sell the stock to traders rather than waiting for another month or two to get tokens to sell paddy,” he said.
He further claimed that after buying paddy from Odisha, Andhra traders are selling them to rice millers in their state who subsequently push the stock in their public distribution system.
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