Odisha's agriculture department looks the other way as farmers suffer

BHUBANESWAR: Even as large parts of the State are being battered by low-pressure induced rains for the last couple of days causing extensive damage to standing paddy crops, the Agriculture department seems oblivious to the plight of farmers.

The unseasonal rains during harvesting of paddy, the principal kharif crop of Odisha, has reportedly damaged crops in the coastal districts of Ganjam, Balasore, Puri, Khurda, Kendrapara, Jagatsingpur and Nayagarh districts. With 135 mm rainfall, Ganjam is the worst affected and chances of harvesting the crop appear remote in the district.

With no official information on the extent of damage to kharif crops, the only option left is the government e-governance portal Agrisnet which delivers informational services to the farming communities. The Agrisnet project was conceptualised with the vision of creating inter-connected technology enabled network which can deliver ‘informational services’ effectively to the farming community. 

The Directorate of Agriculture and Food Production was mandated to provide an weekly report on crop and weather through the portal. Known as crop weather watch group report, it contains vital statistics like area under cultivation of different crops, availability and supply of agricultural inputs, rainfall pattern and tips to farmers on agricultural activities from field preparation to sowing of seeds, application of fertiliser and pesticide till harvesting of the crops.

However, the weekly report uploaded every Saturday for the week was last updated on September 29. The Directorate has been sleeping since then and has issued no advisory to the farmers when they need them the most. The common refrain of the officials is that either they are not authorised to issue the advisory or they do not have any updates. 

The Special Relief Commissioner had advised farmers to shift their harvested paddy to safe places and stack under suitable cover to avoid further loss. Ganesh Nayak, a farmer of Ganjam district said it is not possible to harvest the crops due to waterlogging in the farms. 

While harvesting has begun in western Odisha districts, late duration of paddy is usually harvested in the coastal districts from second week of December.