Centre urged to ensure immediate supply of groundnut seeds

OST Bureau

Bhubaneswar, Nov 26:

The state government today urged the Union Agriculture and Cooperation Ministry for timely supply of groundnut seeds to the state to take advantage of the residual soil moisture and help farmers who have suffered huge losses in the Kharif season due to the cyclone and subsequent floods, official sources said.

“The state government has taken up massive Rabi campaign to pave the way for economic recovery of the farmers. Groundnut is a popular crop in the coastal belt of Odisha which has been hit by the severe natural calamities. Timely supply of seeds to the farmers to take advantage of the residual soil moisture is of paramount importance,” said state Agriculture secretary Rajesh Verma in a letter to Atanu Purkayastha joint secretary, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation.

Due to low and slow supply of groundnut seeds by the national agencies National Seeds Corporation Ltd (NSC) and State Farms Corporation of India Ltd (SFCI), there is a shortage of ground nut seeds in some areas and farmers are demanding immediate supply of seeds by the agencies.

The state requires 101,000 quintals of groundnut seeds while the two central agencies have supplied 8563 quintals so far, official sources said adding Centre needs to supply 18480 quintals of seeds on a daily basis for the benefit of the farmers.

“On an average, 75 trucks (each truck carrying about 135 quintals) are required to be dispatched by NSC and 60 trucks by SFCI on a daily basis for next five days i.e. upto 30 November. I would request to kindly issue appropriate instructions to the national agencies to ensure timely supply of requisite quantity of groundnut seeds to Odisha,” said Verma.