Most of the agricultural farmers of Athagarh and Banki subdivisions in Cuttack district were resorting to distress sale of their agricultural produce and vegetables during the lockdown.
It is the peak production season of vegetables like brinjal, cucumber, ladies finger, pumpkin, ridge gourd, beans, bitter gourd, creeper fruits, groundnuts, leafy vegetables, sugarcanes and all Rabi crops in these areas. The demand for these produce from here in city areas like Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Khurda and Dhenkanal remains high during this period and the farmers of these areas get good profits by selling their prpduce in these areas. But as there is prohibition for the people to come out of their homes and limited period of opening of these special vegetable markets, besides unavailability of food at these market places due to shutdown of the eateries, farmers of these areas do not like to go to the city areas for selling of their produce.
On the other hand, the local markets here which have been allowed by the administration to open only for three to four hours in every morning are having with oversupplies, making the produce cheap.
Now the vegetable vendors sell cucumber Rs 10 per kg, ladies finger Rs 5, pumpkin Rs 10, ridge gourd Rs 20, parwal Rs 40, bitter gourd Rs 15 , brinjal Rs 10 and long beans Rs 15. Similarly, cauliflower and cabbage fetch Rs 10 per unit. The sale prices are so low that the farmers are unable to meet their cost of production, said Brahmananda Lenka, a farmer of Iswara village in Athagarh.
Hundreds of farmers of Jenapada, Nuabandha, Marugotha, Badabhuin, Ichhapur, Sathilo, Basudevpur, Samsarpur, Madhapur villages in Athagarh block; Bindhanima, Badanauput, Gadadharpur, Sunthipal, Manapur, Bishnupur, Banamalipur of Tigiria block; Bangerisingha, Jodumu, Gopinathpur, Bhattarika of Badamba block; Odasingha, Sanagaon, Dimiria, Ekadal, Padamala, Purushottampur of Narsinghpur block; Banra, Bhagipur, Pathapur of Damapada block; Bandalo, Ratagarh, Gholpur, Manipur, Bilipada, Kalapathar, Dhalapathar of Banki block have complained of having suffered huge losses.
They also demanded the Government to consider paying compensation against their losses.
When asked, Assistant Horticulture Officer Dhananjaya Rout here said that a month ago, he had interacted with farmers who seemed very happy over selling their high-yielding vegetables profitably. But due to the present lockdown, the farmers are afraid of going to Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Khordha and Dhenkanal to sell their produce, as a result of which there is distress sale. He would intimate the Government about the situation soon, said Rout.
