Distress sale: Farmers dump vegetables, pulses on road in Jajpur

Jajpur: Hundred of farmers on Wednesday dumped vegetables and pulses on the road at Chandikhol Square in Jajpur district to protest against distress sale in the absence of proper storage facilities and adequate market linkage.
The agitators said steep fall in wholesale prices of their produce forced them to resort to this kind of protest. They alleged that they had to sell them at throwaway prices.
Vehicular movement on NH-16 passing through the town was also hit as the agitators under the banner of Nabanirman Krushak Sangathan (NKS) blocked the stretch by dumping groundnuts and pulses and staging a sit-in.
“The state government has been neglecting farmers and depriving them of the right price for their produce. There is distress sale in vegetables, pulses, coriander, groundnut and milk. Poor income and loan burden force them to commit suicide. The agitation will be intensified, if the government fails to shift its focus on farmers and resolve the long-standing issues pertaining to them,” NKS chief advisor Soumya Ranjan Patnaik said.