Odisha:Paddy farmers allege lack of storage facilities at mandis amid rain

Intermittent rain since Tuesday evening has left farmers in Malkangiri district scrambling to protect their paddy stored at mandis. Lack of adequate shelter at these centres has resulted in large quantities of paddy being soaked, farmers said.Farmers claimed that many mandis have only small tin-roofed sheds, which are inadequate to protect the large quantities of paddy being brought in. “Hundreds of quintals of paddy lie under the open sky outside the mandis, getting soaked in the rain,” said a farmer from Kalimela.

The district administration had set a target to procure 923,850 quintals of paddy during the kharif marketing season (KMS), establishing 67 mandis and involving 14 large area multipurpose societies (LAMP)s and SHGs for the procurement process.

Since the commencement on Dec 16, around 1,85,000 quintals of paddy has been procured. However, the farmers’ association raised concerns about the lack of proper storage facilities for surplus paddy.

With a two-day rain alert issued by IMD, farmers fear delays in the lifting of wet paddy by mills. They are urging the regulated market committee (RMC) to provide additional tarpaulins.

RMC officials, however, said that adequate cover sheds are in place at the mandis, each capable of storing 1,000 quintals of paddy. “The problem arises when more paddy arrives, and farmers don’t stack the bags up to the roof inside the sheds. Instead, they keep the bags outside,” said Debi Prasad Tripathy, secretary of RMC, Malkangiri.

Tripathy claimed that sufficient tarpaulins were provided to the mandis to help farmers cover their paddy. “If there are any issues, they will be addressed,” he said.

This article was been republished from The Times of India.