Ramgarh: Most farmers here seem reluctant to sell their produce to the Primary Agriculture Cooperative Society ( Pacs) set up by the food and civil supply department to collect paddy, in spite of the government agreeing to pay Rs 2,050 for a quintal. The farmers are instead selling their paddy to visiting traders, including those from neighbouring West Bengal, at just Rs 1,200 per quintal.
Fifteen Pacs have been set up in the six blocks of the district with an aim to procure at least 35,000 quintal of paddy.
“Not a single farmer from villages under Barlanga police station — including the ones from chief minister Hemant Soren’s native village of Nemra — has turned up at the Pacs set up at Gola block headquarters. It seems that farmers don’t want to travel to Gola, which is nearly 30 kms from Barlanga. There is, therefore, a need to start a Pacs in Barlanga,” Gola Pacs head Kamaal Sahjada said.
Abid Hussain, the district supply officer (DSO), seconded Sahjada and said that the proposal of setting up a separate Pacs should be given a serious thought.
Puran Rajwar, a farmer in Sutharpur village under Barlanga police station, said he and other villagers have sold their paddy to visiting traders from Jhalda and Jaipur in West Bengal’s Purulia district at a cheaper rate as none of them wanted to travel nearly 30km with sacks of paddy to Gola. “Traders from West Bengal make cash payment at the door step, so most farmers prefer to sell paddy to them,” he said.
Jageshwar Nagvandhi, the head of Bhuchungdih Pacs, said: “Farmers are told that full payment would be made within seven days of paddy procurement, but in reality they have to make multiple trips of the Pacs to get even 50% of the amount. This is the reason why they don’t like to sell their produce to government agencies.”
Till Monday evening, Ramgarh district has been able to collect only 5,000 quintal of paddy against the target of 35,000 quintal.