Bardiya farmers forced to sell paddy at low price

By Our Correspondent 

Gulariya (Bardiya), Oct. 28: Farmers in Bardiya have been forced to sell their paddy at low price after traders refused to pay the government-fixed minimum support price.

They are selling their produce for up to Rs. 1,000 less per quintal than the government’s minimum support price. The government has set the minimum support price for coarse rice at Rs. 3,453 per quintal and for medium rice at Rs. 3,628 per quintal.

The Food Management and Trading Company Limited (FMTC) has delayed the beginning of paddy procurement. Taking advantage of this delay, local traders have been buying rice from farmers at low prices. 

In Bardiya, farmers are selling coarse rice at rates ranging from Rs. 2,400 to Rs. 2,700 per quintal.

Due to the failure of the FMTC and local cooperatives to begin rice procurement on time, farmers have been compelled to sell their paddy to private traders at cheaper rates, the farmers said.

They added that many farmers were forced to sell their rice at low prices because they lacked storage space to wait for better rates and were struggling to meet festival expenses.

Lok Prasad Bhusal of Pandipur in Gulariya Municipality–2 said that traders were offering prices at their own discretion, ignoring the government’s fixed rate.

“Even though the government has set the minimum support price, traders are buying at whatever rate they want,” he said.

Similarly, Pahari Tharu of Bhimapur, Rajapur Municipality–7, said that farmers were suffering due to the delay in rice procurement by the FMTC.

“In previous years, once the company started procurement, traders also began buying rice at the minimum support price. For the benefit of farmers, the company should start procurement soon,” he said.

While farmers are being forced to sell rice at low prices, the FMTC Rajapur Branch has yet to begin procurement. The company, which started purchasing rice in the first week of November last year, has said it will begin procurement by the first week of November this year as well.

Acting Chief of FMTC Rajapur Branch, Chetman Kathayat, said that paddy procurement would begin from three collection centres in the Rajapur area within a week. He said they plan to purchase around 100,000 quintals of paddy this year and urged farmers not to rush into selling their produce at low prices.

He added that although the same target was set last year, only 37,000 quintals were purchased because many farmers did not bring their rice to the FMTC collection centres.

Meanwhile, as local traders continue to buy rice cheaply, some agricultural cooperatives in Bardiya have started purchasing rice from farmers at the government-fixed support price. The Taratal Small Farmers Agricultural Cooperative of Madhuban Municipality has already begun purchasing paddy.

Similarly, the Singhabahini Shivashakti Multipurpose Farmers’ Cooperative of Thakurbaba Municipality has been purchasing rice at the government-fixed minimum support price. 

Some other cooperatives have announced that they will begin procurement right after the Chhath festival.