Problem Of Plenty: Cabbage Sells For Rs 1 Per Piece, Farmers Run Tractor Over Crop In Odisha’s Bargarh

By OB Bureau On Dec 19, 2022

Bargarh: With the price of cabbage plummeting to Rs 1 per piece, the farmers have destroyed the crop in their farmland by running tractors over it in Odisha’s Bargarh district.

According to sources, the farmers of Ganjhiatikra village under Sadar block of the district had cultivated the winter vegetable in 15 acre of land this year. With favourable weather and painstaking care, they had produced a bymper crop.

Initially the crop fetched good price from the traders and middlemen. As winter progressed, the market was flooded with cabbage from local farmers as well as neighbouring states, leading to drastic fall in the procurement price.

For the last several days, the traders have been insisting on procuring cabbage at the rate of one or two rupees per piece from the farmers. In the absence of cold storage facilities for green vegetables, the farmers are hard-pressed to store their produce.

Since the dirt cheap rate would fail to meet the input costs, the farmers destroyed their cabbage crop by running tractors over 3 acre of farmland in the village on Sunday. The rest farmers have reportedly decided to follow the step.

Admitting the incident, district agriculture officer Asho Kumar Amat said the district witnessed bumper production of paddy and non-paddy crops due to favourable weather condition this year. The farmers are not able to get suitable cost for their produce due to lack of cold storage.

Though the farmers can set up cold storage under Mukhyamantri Krushi Udyog Yojana, they are not forthcoming in this regard for the high cost involved in the project. However, the administration would strive to set up cold storages by making farmers’ pool to prevent desperate sale of the produce, he added.