FARMERS SUFFER AS PADDY SEED SHORTAGE CONTINUES

Dear all

Actually this newswas published in the Pioneer on 24^th June2013.Somehow I overlooked and could not post inmy blog.Hence posting  it today.(27^th june,2013)

Yours

SudhirMishra/Balangir

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FARMERS SUFFER AS PADDY SEED SHORTAGE CONTINUES

Monday, 24 June 2013 | SUDHIR MISHRA | BALANGIR | in Bhubaneswar

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Even though the district has received good rainfall, suitable for sowing paddy seeds, farmers in Balangir are facing acute seed shortage, much to their chagrin.

“Against a requirement of 52,653 quintals of seeds, we have received around 15,000 quintals of paddy seeds, which are totally inadequate,” said an official here. All this happened, even after two agencies, namely the Odisha State Seeds Corporation (OSSC) and the Odisha Agro Industries Corporation (OAIC) are supplying seeds to farmers this year. We have appraised about the prevailing seed position in the district to higher authorities, he informed.

According to reports, in Balangir district, there is no full-fledged seed production officer here. The seed production officer of Bargarh district is in charge of Balangir district. Besides, the seed processing unit is not functioning properly.

Usually by June 30, the selling of paddy seeds is closed in normal years. With barely ten days left for June 30, even though there has been rainfall in the district, yet shortage of seed continues to plague the farmers, sources said.

“The Naveen Patnaik Government has less concern for farmers. It has nfailed to provide adequate paddy seeds to the farmers of Balangir district which is most unfortunate. We are going to stage an agitation soon on this issue,” revealed Indian Youth Congress president Aakash Mishra.

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