Badly hit, Orissa farming sector yet to find its roots

The state government did draw up an elaborate rabi programme to tackle the whole situation, but statistics do not say all. If the overall crop coverage under the post-cyclone rabi programme is taken into consideration, then the state government could boast of 98-per cent crop coverage. But this is mainly due to the 100-per cent performance in the five districts of Ganjam, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj and Nayagarh. Of the rest nine districts, the state government could not meet its target in as many as eight. In Gajapati district, crop coverage under the programme was a meagre 33 per cent, while in Kendrapara, Jajpur, Jagatsinghpur and Balasore, almost 25 per cent of the area remained uncovered by the programme.

Ask Makar Sahoo, a resident of Talang village in Ersama block. “The government could not even construct a cross-embankment at Nagari to channelise water into our fields for cultivation. Finally, the locals had to take up the construction on a temporary basis and at least a good few thousand hectares were brought under irrigation,” he says.

To boost agricultural activities in the affected areas, the state government also announced a subsidy of 50 per cent on purchase of seeds for the rabi as well as kharif programme, which is about to get over. Director of Agriculture Department Satyabrata Sahoo says: “That the Government was able to supply 1,15,728 quintal seeds, with a subsidy of Rs 9.28 crore, during the rabi season following the cyclone is pretty commendable. Moreover, since the economic plight of the farmers had not improved, the department continued to supply seeds at 50-per cent subsidy during the kharif season.”

Similarly, the Government of India supplied oilseed mini-kits as well as pulse mini-kits of about 14,161 quintals under its various programmes to ensure the supply of quality seeds.

But the Orissa government failed completely on one count — land reclamation. After the cyclone, about 8,729 hectares in coastal districts were left covered by sand, while a whopping 47,000 hectares were subject to saline inundation. The total reclamation cost is estimated at Rs 103 crore.

In the absence of any specific strategy to tackle this, the government pinned its hopes on rains. But a highly deficient rainfall ensured that most of the sand-cast land remains fallow, and there have been hardly any steps for de-salination. Some NGOs did distribute saline-proof seeds to supplement the government’s efforts, but that was all.

The Agriculture Department also supplied about 3,000 quintals of such seeds in areas affected by salination. But ask villagers of Kiada, Ambiki, Hanagotha, Dahibara, where saline inundation was extreme, and they have no knowledge about the availability of such seeds.

The agricultural activities also suffered a serious setback due to the massive loss of cattle population in the drought. The government helped prepare land for cultivation through free ploughing but this was limited, as only 11,084 acres were covered. Land-tilling support was also extended to farmers with 50-per cent subsidy, but only for kharif, and in only 12,500 acres.

Though the Naveen Patnaik government tried to popularise mechanised implements to get around this problem, the penetration remained meagre. Those needing sustenance could not afford to buy the high-priced implements too. “Who has the money to buy a power tiller or a tractor whose price runs into thousands of rupees? ” asks Nabaghan Ghadi of Dahibara village.

The government’s plan to supply 5,000 diesel pumps could materialise only this month because the Orissa Finance Department objected to the subsidy arrangement. So far, only 457 such pumps have been supplied. Other steps such as the establishment of 2,000 agro-service centres and digging of 14,000 shallow wells and tube-wells with assistance from NABARD are yet to take off.

On the horticulture front, the state government achieved some success. In order to replenish the lost coconut plantation, it has so far been able to supply 10.55 lakh saplings against a target of 14 lakh.

But the needs remain huge, and the means meagre.