Rabindranath Biswas
Diglipur, 15, January: Mr. Kamal Halder, President, Diglipur Farmer Union has raised a plethora of issues related to agricultural activities in Diglipur region.
According to information, Diglipur Farmer Union has observed that there are certain unresolved issues which have been crippling the agricultural activities in Diglipur region.
Talking to Andaman Sheekha Daily, Mr. Kamal Halder, President, Diglipur Farmer Union said that the farmers of Diglipur haven’t been getting the chemical fertilizers for the last couple of years and hence their agricultural activities are in jeopardy. Moreover, the farmers are facing other problems which need to be redressed, he emphasized.
And since the farmers of Diglipur aren’t reportedly getting the chemical fertilizers such as DAP and Urea, they are not in a condition to grow their agricultural produce, especially vegetables, Mr. Halder claimed. The vegetables grown are badly in need of the fertilizers, and non-availability of the required fertilizers at the moment, the growth of the vegetable plants has ceased and the vegetable plants are in perishable condition, the President informed.
This is peak season for growing vegetables, and if the farmers can’t apply the required fertilizers to the vegetable plants, they (plants) will certainly perish and the stakeholders/farmers will incur a severe loss, Mr. Kamal maintained. On the other hand, the Agriculture Department, Diglipur has reportedly completely stopped supplying of these two chemical fertilizers to the farmers, Mr. Halder alleged. Now the cultivators/farmers are in grave situation without these two chemical fertilizers, he further claimed.
Stray cattle menace, on the other hand, has become a direct threat to the farmers’ cultivation, Mr. Halder said. Herds of feral cows and bulls come out of nowhere at night and invade vegetable fields/farms in a big way. Large groups of these animals completely ravage the fields they enter in, leaving no scope of defence for the farmers.
They destroy standing vegetable plants like ladies finger, chillies, brinjal, beans etc and also prey on vegetables, he informed. The President had appealed to the local administration and higher authorities several times for resolving the issue of cattle menace, but unfortunately no fruitful result yielded as yet, Mr. Kamal Halder alleged.
Apart from this, the Agriculture Dept. has not been reportedly supplying high quality seeds of vegetables, fruits and even paddy for the last 05 years. Hence, the farmers are lagging behind in yielding in high quality produce, Mr. Halder maintained.
The President of DFU further said that the delay in convoy causes severe losses to the vegetables and fruits transported from Diglipur to Sri Vijaya Puram. Vegetables and fruits are perishable items which need timely transportation from one place to another. But, the undesired delay at Middle Strait convoy has been causing severe damages to vegetables and fruits transported from Diglipur to Sri Vijaya Puram and which in turn results in great losses to the farmers, Mr. Halder informed.
The DFU President has written a letter to the Assistant Commissioner, Diglipur apprising him of the issues and urged the AC to resolve them.
However, Andaman Sheekha Daily when posed questions to the Officials of the Agriculture Department on the matter of non-issuance of the chemical fertilizers such as DAP and Urea to the farmers of Diglipur, they said that they aren’t authorized to speak on the matter.
The officials, nevertheless, said that the Agriculture Department is indefatigably working towards promoting organic farming with various initiatives aimed at advancing natural farming practices by the farmer community. In fact, organic farming initiative ensures a healthier ecosystem for both farmers and consumers, they emphasized. As far as the supply of fertilizers to the farmers is concerned, the procurement of Rock Phosphate is in the process, an official source said.
Amid this, the President of the Diglipur Farmer Union further said that the Union has unanimously decided to hold a dharna in front of the Administrative Building, Diglipur and road blockage on 16th January 2025 which will reportedly start at 09:00 am and will last till 03:00 pm; and the Union is also going to keep the Subhashgram Vegetable Market shut on the same day to press for their demands, Mr. Kamal Halder threatened.
