Farmers have been forced to sell rice cheaply in their villages due to delays in purchasing rice by food and trading companies.
The Food Management and Trading Company Limited has started purchasing rice late. The company started purchasing rice in Mahendranagar from Sunday after most farmers sold their rice cheaply.
"Many people have already sold paddy cheaply in their villages, we also sold a little bit," said Karnasingh Mangola of Bhimdatta Municipality-6, Bangaun, "Although it is late, the food department has started buying it, we have brought it here because we get a better price than the market."
According to him, farmers in the village are selling it for 2,400 to 2,600 per quintal. After receiving the information that the food department will buy paddy, the farmers had been transporting it in autos, tractors and other vehicles since Sunday morning. Farmers have also started coming to the office to get tokens for selling paddy.
Land ownership certificate and citizenship have been asked for selling paddy up to 10 quintals, while for more than 10 quintals, the recommendation of the ward office has been asked. This has caused some inconvenience to the farmers. The food department has got a quota of 5,000 quintals of paddy in Mahendranagar this year. It is purchasing coarse rice at Rs 3,463 per quintal and medium rice at Rs 3,688 per quintal.
Mahikaran Mahara, head of the Food and Agriculture Organization of Nepal (FAO) office in Mahendranagar, said that the center will be requested to increase the quota if the pressure from farmers increases. “Last year, the quota has been reduced this year because only a small amount of rice was purchased,” he said. “If more rice is received, the center will be requested to increase the quota.”
Last year, FAO had a quota to purchase 15,000 quintals of rice in Kanchanpur. But only 3,300 quintals were purchased. Last year, procurement centers were also set up in Shuklaphanta and Belauri municipalities along with Mahendranagar. This time too, the office head Mahara said that additional staff have been demanded to operate procurement centers in Belauri, Punarbas and Dodhara Chandani municipalities. He said that procurement will start immediately if the staff is added.
Paddy is cultivated on about 50,000 hectares in Kanchanpur. The productivity of paddy here is 4 metric tons per hectare. Since planting can be completed by mid-Ashar, the work of importing paddy can also be completed quickly. But when food is purchased late, farmers are forced to sell it cheaply in the villages. Food cannot also purchase according to the quota. Farmers say that if the purchase starts on time, food can also fulfill the quota and farmers will also get a fair price.
