Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Profit eludes rice farmers -Nalin Verma

Profit eludes rice farmers -Nalin Verma

Share this article Share this article
published Published on Nov 27, 2014   modified Modified on Nov 27, 2014
-The Telegraph

Bihar: Santosh Thakur, a middle-aged farmer from Karsi village in Dinara block of Rohtas district - famously known as the part of Bihar's rice bowl - is as hapless this kharif season as he has always been.

He is forced to sell his paddy at Rs 950-1,000 per quintal to middlemen against the stipulated procurement price of Rs 1,360 per quintal.

Why are you selling your produce at such a low rate? Replying to the query, Santosh, a small farmer who owns about three acres of farmland, said: "I require diesel, fertiliser and seed for kharif wheat crops. The sowing season has begun simultaneously with the harvesting of the kharif-paddy season. I need immediate cash to buy the necessities. I have no way out other than selling my paddy at cheap price."

Santosh is virtually a saga of a vicious cycle of incurring loss every kharif reason and sliding into gradual poverty with each passing season. "We had more than five acres of land. But we had to sell part of our farmland bit by bit to sustain our agriculture, a really unprofitable vocation," Santosh said.

Saroj Sah, a middleman from nearby Bairipur village, admitted that he had been buying paddy from the small farmers at the rate of Rs 1,000 per quintal. "After buying it from the farmers we sell it off to the rice-mill owners at the rate of Rs 1,050," Saroj said. The government has announced that the primary agricultural societies (PACS) will begin procuring the paddy at the rate of Rs 1,360 from the farmers from November 25 - the exact day when chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi will present his report card.

Here the claims of both the state government headed by Manjhi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are at stake. Modi, during his Lok Sabha poll campaigns, had repeatedly announced that he would ensure adequate price to the farmers for their produce. "Kisan bhookhe mare, issey bada durbhagya Bharat ka nahi ho sakta. Main kisano ko uchit mulya dilwaunga (There cannot a bigger misfortune than farmers dying of starvation. I will ensure adequate price to the farmers for their produce)."

Now while Modi is busy on his "mission" to conquer other states, there are no signs of procurement centres coming up so far no in any part of what is known as the "rice bowl" of Bihar. "The government has announced that it will begin procuring paddy from farmers through the PACS centres. We don't see any centre coming up nearby," Santosh and other farmers of his village said.

Ironically, Bihar created a record of sorts last year by producing 83 lakh tonnes of rice (paddy product) - claimed to be the maximum yield of rice in the country. The state has been producing over 80 lakh tonnes of paddy per season for the last four seasons. "Despite cyclone Hudhud and irregular rainfall that affected the kharif crops the state is estimated to produce over 80 lakh tonnes of rice again this season," claimed an agriculture department official.

But the rising yield of paddy and rice - that might have added to the profit and prosperity to dealers and traders in paddy/rice - has hardly brought "achhe din" (good days), as promised by the PM to the farmers.

 


The Telegraph, 26 November, 2014, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1141126/jsp/bihar/story_19075698.jsp#.VHZPt2dSp0h


Related Articles

 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close