Bhubaneswar: Odisha Food Supplies and Cooperation Minister Surya Narayan Patro today lambasted agriculture department saying that its officials are not undertaking field visit to assess crop loss due to pest attack and unseasonal rains leading to the delay in submission of damage report.
“Since the Chief Minister has instructed that November 25 is the deadline for submitting the detail crop damage report, I reviewed the matter in this connection. But I found negligence on part of agriculture department officials who have not carried out field visit in Chhatrapur block in Ganjam district during a review after receiving complaints from locals,” Patro said.
“Later on, I reprimanded them and asked them to ensure submission of the damage report. This apart, I have written a letter to the agriculture department apprising it of the issue,” Patro said.
On the other hand, Agriculture Minister Damodar Rout has passed the buck saying that since Patro had handled Revenue department earlier, he should know that crop loss assessment report is prepared by revenue department officials like RI, Tehsildar in presence of agriculture officials.
Earlier, Patro had informed that over 1.5 lakh tonne of Kharif paddy has been procured till date from various districts like Bargarh, Sambalpur, Kalahandi, Sonepur, Bolangir. But in coastal districts like Ganjam, paddy collection has not been done except Malkangiri.
“Since the state witnessed rains last week so there are chances of lowering in Fair Average Quality (FAQ) of the standing paddy crops. We need a report from the agriculture department so that we can send a report to the Centre for changing the ratio of FAQ from the present 17 percent,” Patro had said.
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