Rayagada: Farmers in Odisha's Rayagada district on Wednesday stalled the inauguration of the Kharif paddy procurement mandi for the 2025-26 season, alleging large-scale irregularities in the issuance of procurement tokens. Due to the protest, the Additional District Magistrate (ADM), who had arrived to inaugurate the mandi, returned without the inauguration.

As per reports, the protest took place at the premises of the Rayagada Regulated Market Committee, where farmers gathered and surrounded the concerned officials, demanding resolution of their grievances before any inauguration.

Farmers alleged that the token system for paddy procurement was faulty and unfair. As per the current norms, tokens have been issued for the procurement of 19 quintals of paddy per acre in irrigated land and 13 quintals per acre in non-irrigated land.

However, farmers claimed that actual production is much higher, with irrigated land yielding 25 to 30 quintals and non-irrigated land producing around 20 to 22 quintals per acre.

The farmers questioned how they are expected to dispose of the surplus paddy that is not covered under the token limit.

A farmer alleged that real farmers are not being invited to District Level Procurement Committee (DLPC) meetings. Instead, political representatives are being called, and farmers’ issues are not being discussed, he alleged.

Farmers also pointed out that in previous years, around 80 per cent of farmers received tokens before the mandi inauguration. This year, even on the day of the scheduled opening, only 20 to 30 per cent of farmers had received tokens. They attributed the problem to the lack of proper land surveys in many areas of the district.

As the farmers refused to allow the inauguration without addressing their demands, ADM Navin Chandra Nayak left the place.