Farmers furious in the Far-West when the government refuses to buy paddy

Dhangadhi: Farmers in the far west are in crisis after the government refused to buy paddy. The Food Management and Trade Company Limited refused to buy the paddy saying that it did not meet the standards. According to the Food Management and Trade Company Limited Provincial Office, the procurement of paddy was started on December 8. But the farmers are returning without reaching the procurement center and selling the paddy. According to Kamal Chaudhary, a local of Kailari village, the flood-soaked paddy is not being procured by Food Management and Trading Company Limited.

"There is a problem when the government refuses to buy paddy," he said. The government had fixed the price of paddy at Rs 2,752 per quintal. But due to the problem of non-purchase by the government, most of the farmers have already sold paddy to the traders at cheaper prices. Farmer Ram Kisan Chaudhary of Tikapur Municipality Ward No. 1 of Kailali says that some farmers have been forced to sell paddy for Rs. He said, "Food has delayed the purchase of paddy. Even though the procurement has started, the farmers are being sent back saying that the paddy has not arrived as per the standards.

The flood in Kartik had soaked the paddy prepared for import. Food Management and Trading Company Limited have refused to buy soaked paddy. Due to which even 10 percent of the quota has not been procured. The government had set a quota for purchasing 35,000 quintals of paddy in Kailali and 600 quintals in Kanchanpur. But so far only 13 quintals of paddy have been procured in Kailali and 200 quintals in Kanchanpur.

Angela Basnet, head of the regional office of the Food Management and Trading Company Limited, argues that the farmers are bringing soaked paddy but there is no standard to buy the paddy. "Even though we have started buying paddy, we are not getting quality paddy," she said. There is a problem in procuring paddy as per the criteria. ' She said that it is difficult to distinguish between good and bad paddy even if it is mixed with paddy and wet paddy before the rains. Food had designated eight procurement centers in Kailali for the procurement of paddy. But paddy procurement was started only from Tikapur's Shatti Godown and Dhangadhi's Mohanpur Godown.