The State government has had to surrender Rs 9 crore production subsidy to the Centre for the negligence of the Agriculture and Farmers’ Empower department.
According to the reports, the department which received the Central assistance in 2021-22 for the promotion of hybrid paddy seeds to improve the seed replacement rate (SRR) to retain the hybrid vigor and increase productivity could not disburse the fund among the seed growing farmers before the closure of the financial year. As a result, around 6,000 farmers who had supplied certified hybrid seeds of drought, flood, saline, and pest resistant varieties to the Odisha State Seed Corporation (OSSC) were deprived of their incentives which are given at the rate of Rs 2,000 per quintal.
The Centre has approved production subsidy at Rs 20 per kg and distribution subsidy at Rs 25 per kg. “I have supplied 150 quintals of certified seeds to OSSC during this Kharif season. Repeated reminders to the district officials of the corporation and Agriculture department yielded no result,” said Bargarh farmer Gokula Pradhan. Similar complaints are coming from districts where farmers have registered with the OSSC for developing seeds under the Central scheme.
The assistance is there with the State government after the provision was made in the Central government budget. The Agriculture Department had enough time for disbursement but for its callousness, the farmers are suffering.
The cereal production incentive is part of the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) under which states are provided breeder seeds for the development of foundation and certified seeds under Bringing Green Revolution to Eastern India (BGREI) program.
