There is a hue and cry over shortage of onions in the market. What is your department doing to address the issue?
The state’s requirement of onion per annum is 5.5 lakh tonnes. We produce onion in only four districts — Nuapada, Balangir, Kalahandi and a part of Nabarangpur. We also produce some onion at Puruna Cuttack, which is located between Boudh and Phulbani. Despite all our efforts, the production of onion remains 1.5 lakh tonne per annum. We cannot preserve it for a long time. We have already exhausted our stock.
To meet the shortfall of 4.5 lakh tonnes, we have to depend on Nashik in Maharashtra, Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh and also on Madhya Pradesh. But the damage to crops following floods in Maharashtra, onion produced in the interior parts of the state could not come.
To check farmer suicides, the Maharashtra government started procuring onion at a higher price. So, only a few options are left for our traders to procure onion at a lower and competitive price. Sometimes our traders have had to buy onion at Rs 24 to Rs 26 a kg. I asked the traders and my department officials to sell onion with a profit margin of just Re 1, which will meet the transportation and preservation costs.
How long will the shortage persist?
It may take another 15 days. One can’t store onion, as it is a perishable commodity. So there can be no hoarding. I have already sent a message to everybody that the government would take strong action if they do any mischief. Now, the businessmen have started cooperating with the department.
Is it not an irony that despite the fact that we do not produce sufficient onion, our farmers had to resort to distress sale?
Yes, there was distress sale. This was due to the fact that onion from neighbouring Madhya Pradesh where it was selling for Rs 2 per kg flooded our markets. The traders from Madhya Pradesh also asked our farmers to sell the onion at that price. However, we intervened and brought the onion price to Rs 7 per kg. But we cannot preserve it for long.
Why don’t you implement the Market Intervention System to rescue farmers?
For market intervention, there has to be a consensus between the Centre and the state government as the price will be shared in the ratio of 50:50. We have already announced MIS for mung and biri dal. Two days ago, I told the officials that groundnut should be purchased at Rs 42.20 per kg. In the case of onion, they did not agree. Onion cultivation is not confined to Odisha but spread over many states.
The government’s failure to build a chain of cold storage may be one of the factors that has led to the distress sale...
That is a wrong notion. We have nearly 42 cold stores in the private sector across the state. Besides, we have nearly seven cold stores around the capital city. A number of cold storages are there in Berhampur, my hometown. We have 24 cold stores in a bad condition. When the proposal came to me for their repair, I strongly suggested that these units be privatised. Let the private party undertake repairs and do business. The business cannot be run by the government.
Every year, we face distress sale of various agricultural produce. How can this problem be solved?
Everything is related to demand and supply. If suddenly there is excess supply, the prices will plummet and it becomes difficult to arrest it.
That’s the time the government needs to intervene. We are doing so now. In the case of paddy, we have decided whatever the quantity of rice produced in our state, we will procure it from the farmers. Last year, we procured 56 lakh metric tonnes of rice. I have asked the primary agriculture societies to purchase paddy from the sharecroppers.
What will you do with so much of surplus rice?
Under the food security programme, we are giving 5 kg of rice per head. We will use up 30 lakh metric tonnes of rice under the programme. The rest of the rice will be procured by the Food Corporation of India. We also export rice to Punjab, Haryana, Jharkhand, Bihar and Karnataka. We are the third largest producer of rice in the country.
You are part of a ministerial committee that discussed the issue of sharecroppers being given certain rights vis-a-vis the landowners. When will committee’s report be ready?
Nearly 90 per cent landowners give their land to sharecroppers for farming. There is a fear among landowners that if they declare that they are leasing out land for cultivation purpose, their land will be taken away. Keeping this concern in mind, we are now emphasising on real cultivators. But as the issue is a controversial one, we have to secure the interest of the sharecroppers as well as farmers. It will take some more time to resolve the issue.
You have staged a came back to the ministry. Earlier, a section of leaders from Ganjam claimed that they had lobbied for your inclusion in the government.
It’s the prerogative of the chief minister to pick up people for inclusion in the ministry. He also decides who he will use for party work and other purposes. When I was not in the ministry, he had used my services extensively in west Odisha and other parts of the state for the party’s work. I never felt for a moment that I was out of favour with Naveen babu. Later, he brought me back to the ministry. Lobbying does not work.
BJP national president Amit Shah launched his party programme Mo Booth Sabuthu Majboot (My booth is the strongest) from Ganjam. Your party must have been worried.
BJP is a national party and it has formed the government at the Centre. The party has also formed governments in a number of states. Now, they are facing anti-incumbency in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and other states. They have already lost Punjab and managed to form government in Goa. They are in alliance in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and some other parts of the country. They are making efforts to enter newer areas. Now, they have set eyes on Odisha, Bengal and some other states. They are making all-out efforts to strengthen their organisational base. But, they will not be successful in Odisha as long as Naveen babu is here.
But the anti-establishment factor also works against the BJD.
No. We are taking up need-based programmes for development of the people. Naveen’s image is imprinted in the minds of people.
Earlier, you equated Naveen babu as lord Krishna who drives the chariot (state) and Pyari Mohan Mohapatra as Arjun, who shoots the arrows. After Pyari Mohan, who is the Arjun now in the party?
After the Mahabharat war was over all the Pandavas started claiming that they had defeated the Kauravas. But one Belalasena said he had seen only a wheel chopping off heads. Similarly, here Naveen babu is Krishna and there is no need for Arjuna as this war is different from the Mahabharat battle.
What is the major challenge for the party in 2019?
The Congress is almost a spent force. The space vacated by it is now being filled up by the BJP. Many Congress leaders are joining the BJP in the hope of getting a ticket. They are also spreading their network. Despite BJP emerging as a challenge, they will be no match for Naveen babu’s image and our programmes for the people.
What do you consider more important: loyalty to the party leader (Naveen Patnaik) or efficiency at work?
Both loyalty and hard work are required to be successful.
