Upset farmers fearful of sowing paddy next year

There has been a tardy procurement and lifting in the mandis. Even the scenario in the mandis is same, the situation has made farmers fearful of sowing paddy next year.

Shekein village farmer Amritpal Singh said he had already started worrying about what will happen next year. “It is so painful this time. My paddy is still lying in mandis. This was the only crop that made us a little relaxed, but now things have changed,” he said.

Another farmer from Nakodar said the governments had shaken their belief from paddy also. “Eda sahara si saanu, hor ki laiye hun”, a frustrated farmer said.

Farmer Tarsem Singh from Ucha village said his produce was lying in the open in the nearby mandi. “The situation has not improved. It is still grave,” he said.

Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) (Doaba) president Manjit Rai made an appeal to farmers that they must record and click the picture of the slip that was given to them. “We have been hearing that farmers are facing several issues. This will not be acceptable and we will ensure that farmers are given the actual price of their crop,” he said.

He further added that farmers would hold a dharna if the government does not listen to them. Bhogpur village farmer Hardev Singh also said it was a negative environment for the farmers where they (growers) and their produce were not being respected.

“In all these years, we have never faced such scenario. We are being asked to sell our produce with some cuts. Some farmers are agreeing to do this because there is no option or choice left for us,” he added.

Frustrated farmers said the festive season also went in tension and now nothing was positive for them.

DC Dr Himanshu Aggarwal on Tuesday said the district administration was according top priority to lifting of paddy in grain markets with lifting of 32,629 MT crop in a single day.

Reviewing the paddy procurement arrangements, the DC said so far a total of 2,69,520 MT crop has been lifted by the procurement agencies.