Farmers in Kailali are forced to sell rice at a low price after the food and trading company's purchase quota was exhausted.

Some farmers have complained that they could not sell their paddy at a reasonable price, while others have said that they had to sell it cheaply to local grain traders.

‘I had already sold 20 quintals of paddy to a grain trader at a rate of 2500 to raise some funds for sowing wheat. I have stored 50 quintals of paddy at home. Now the price has come down to 2300 per quintal,’ said Bhagiram Chaudhary, a farmer from Padaria, Bhajani Municipality-3, Kailali. ‘I am afraid that rats will destroy the paddy in my house. I am forced to sell it even if it is cheap.’

This year, the Food Management and Trading Company had fixed the purchase price of coarse paddy at 3,463.81 rupees per quintal. The food company has stopped purchasing it saying that the prescribed quota has been exhausted. But most farmers have not been able to sell paddy. “Two hundred families in our village have been unable to sell their paddy and have been stuck at home,” said Ramswarup Chaudhary, a farmer from Padaria who is also the chairman of the Pashupati Toll Development Organization formed by Bhajani Municipality. “I sold 20 quintals to the grain trader, and I still have 10 quintals to sell.” He said that despite the collective efforts of the Toll Development Organization to sell it for food, it was not possible. Although the government has fixed the selling price of coarse paddy at Rs 3,463.81 per quintal, farmers are currently selling it to grain traders for Rs 2,300 per quintal. “There is no option but to sell it at the rate offered by the grain trader,” said Dhani Kumari Chaudhary, another farmer from Padaria. “We are not able to sell it to food companies.” Another farmer, Kanhaiyalal Dagaura, says that farmers are always in a state of shock. He said that farmers are facing losses in every aspect of their work, from farming to selling. ‘One bigha costs Rs 10,000. When selling, they have to pay the price set by the trader. What could be more ironic for farmers?’ He said.

The Food and Trading Company, which had set a quota of 55,000 quintals in Kailali and 15,000 quintals in Kanchanpur last year, had set a quota of 35,000 quintals in Kailali and 5,000 quintals in Kanchanpur this year.

The company’s provincial office chief, Deepak Thapa, said that the quota was completed within about two weeks of starting the purchase. ‘The quota has decreased compared to last year. Less rice was purchased according to the quota last year. That is why the government has reduced the quota this year,’ Thapa said.

According to farmers, it is difficult to sell rice for food. According to them, when the purchase quota in food is low, they have to go through the hassle of bringing back the rice that has already been delivered there. ‘When the quota is low, access is needed to sell rice.’ In addition, the food does not immediately pay the amount for the rice sale,’ said Bhajani’s Dhani Kumari Chaudhary. ‘The rice that is transported from a distance to the food depot after paying the transportation costs is sent back by the employees saying that it is not clean.’ Farmers suspect that there is a practice of traders buying rice cheaply from farmers and selling it to the food depot at a high price.’

Thapa, the provincial head of the food company, says that although the quota for purchasing rice in Kailali and Kanchanpur was fixed this year, 45,824 quintals were purchased due to the increase in farmers. ‘We purchased 38,948 quintals out of a quota of 35,000 quintals in Kailali and 6,876 quintals out of a quota of 5,000 quintals in Kanchanpur,’ he said.   

According to Thapa, the company had purchased only 120,000 quintals out of a quota of 700,000 quintals of paddy across the country last year. This year, only 170,000 quintals of paddy have been purchased from across the country,   

Thapa said that in the last fiscal year, 56,527 quintals of rice were sold from Dhangadhi and 5,000 quintals from Kanchanpur. Khayd has been purchasing paddy and selling it after threshing it in its own mill. 

Khayd has been purchasing less paddy and purchasing rice from traders.  Regarding how the food company, which sold 56,527 quintals of rice from Dhangadhi last year, will meet the demand for rice this year while purchasing 38,000 quintals, the provincial chief Thapa said, "That is, the center will tender and purchase rice from traders." The provincial office has stated that the food company has been selling and distributing rice from five branches, two depot offices, and 60 sales centers in 9 districts in the far west.