Odisha: Farmers cry seed scam, hit streets

BARIPADA: Farmers of Balasore district under the banner of Naba Nirman Krushak Sangathan on Tuesday staged demonstration in front of the Collector’s office demanding a high-level inquiry into irregularities in seed supply. The agitators alleged that seeds provided to them were of very poor quality.
The protestors claimed that the seeds supplied to farmers were the leftover of the lot processed at Odisha Seeds plant at Rajaghat in Basta. The poor quality seeds are not fit for agricultural activities, they said.
Member of the Sangathan Arun Jena demanded legal action against district officials and corrupt traders, including owner of the duplicate seed processing plant, involved in the scam. 

The farmers’ body will submit a memorandum seeking fulfilment of their five-point charters of demands to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik through the district Collector soon, Jena added. Meanwhile, activists of Balasore District Youth Congress also gheraoed the Seed Corporation office and demanded a probe into the alleged irregularity. Youth Congress leader Arijit Ghoshal said farmers of the district have been badly affected due to massive seed corruption. 

“The Congress will not remain a mute spectator when livelihood of farmers is being affected. In coming days, the district unit of the party will hit the streets for the interests of farmers,” Ghoshal added.
As per reports, the Seeds Corporation had signed agreements with two private processing firms for supply of seeds to farmers. However, the seeds supplied was of sub-standard quality, the farmers alleged.

Contacted, officials of the Seeds Corporation informed that 10 quintals of seeds were damaged by rodents. The remaining stock has been cleaned and processed. Balasore District Seed Corporation Officer Chandra Sekhar Padhi said the seeds were supplied to farmers after cleaning. “However, if the allegations against Odisha seeds are established, we would cancel the agreement and not procure any seeds from the firm,” he added.