Sambalpur: Unable to bear with distress sale of vegetables, more particularly cabbage, two farmers have destroyed their entire vegetable cultivation in the field itself under the wheel of a tractor.
The incident was reported from Ganjiatikra village in Odisha’s Bargarh district.
“It is wise to destroy the cabbage as the market price is too low. Destroying vegetables is more profitable than selling it in the market at low prices, said Rupesh Pradhan and Manraj Pradhan,the two farmers who have destroyed their products.
As per information, Rupesh and Manraj had cultivated cabbage in vast areas with the hope that vegetable cultivation would be more profitable than traditional Paddy in Bargarh.
But the price of vegetables suddenly plummeted forcing the two farmers to take such a harsh decision.
‘ When we calculated the labour cost of taking Cabbage to market, it came out higher than the price of the cabbage to be sold in the market ‘ they said adding it is better to destroy the cabbage in the field than to incur further loss”,
Cabbage is now being sold at Rs 8-10 per kg in the market.
Hence, farmers are forced to sell at just Rs 3 per kg to the whole sellers.
Although a good number of vegetable wholesalers are coming from the Bhubaneswar area every day, they are also not willing to pay more value for the vegetables.
In the agriculture-rich Bargarh district, it has been again proved that cash crop is also less profitable than paddy although the government and agriculture department always discourage farmers from cultivating paddy.
Sources said the owners of more than 200 acres of land with cabbage cultivation will also follow the footprints of Rupesh and Manraj soon.
When contacted, Bargarh District Collector Monisha Banerjee said she will send the agriculture staff and RMC officials to the village to ensure that farmers get the right value of their products.
