Koraput farmers seek early procurement

JEYPORE: Hundreds of farmers on Friday met Jeypore Sub-Collector C S Rathod and  demanded selling of their paddy crops at procurement centres. They alleged that as the row over FAQ is continuing in the State, millers and procurement officials are not accepting their produce citing low quality at the mandis. The procurement officials are hand in glove with the millers for vested interests and deducting around 10 kg of paddy for FAQ verification, the distress farmers alleged. They demanded that farmers should be allowed to sell their produce.

However, the Sub-Collector asked the farmers to meet the Collector to resolve their grievances. Meanwhile, panic gripped the farmers in the region fearing rains as more than one lakh quintal of paddy has been stocked at different mandis for sale without any safety measures.