5,882 farmers get 7,101 quintals of wheat seeds

Aparna Banerji

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, November 14

With 15 days to go for the wheat season to end, the Agriculture Department had distributed 8,101 quintals of wheat seeds in Jalandhar and Kapurthala districts (7,101 quintals in Jalandhar and 1,000 quintals in Kapurthala).

In Jalandhar, seeds had been distributed among 5,882 farmers of the total flood-affected 8,417 farmers. A total of 9,006 quintals of seeds are to be distributed in the district.

In Kapurthala, of the 11,000 quintal of seeds to be distributed, only 1,000 have been given away so far. While the process has been going on relatively smoother in Jalandhar where farmers said most of them were receiving the seeds, Kapurthala farmers said the process had been hit due to undue paperwork and denial of seeds to farmers with less than 4-kanal land.

Sukhchain Singh, a member of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee and farmer based in Passan Kadeem village in Kapurthala, said: “The seeds arrived on November 6 and the Agriculture Department began distributing the same on November 8. But the process has been hit with anomalies and glitches. During the disbursal at Middewal village recently, officials of the Agriculture Department refused to provide seeds to those with less than 4 kanal land. I received 1 quintal 20 kg seeds for my land but 40 kg of seeds, I was supposed to get for the land inherited from my father after his recent death, was not given to me. With farmers with lesser land being left out, poor farmers are suffering due to the non-distribution of seeds.”

Tarsem Singh, another farmer, said: “The right time to sow the seeds is within a week. Farmers have been waiting for the seed to arrive to complete the wheat-sowing process. We kept receiving new instructions regarding sowing tools which also ate up quite a lot of our money. But despite the wait, many farmers have been devoid of seeds and poor farmers are badly hit. Many are buying seeds to make up for the non-disbursal while they have already been under debts.”

Ashwini Kumar, District Agriculture Officer, Kapurthala, said, “We have begun the process of disbursal of wheat seeds and 1,000 quintals had already been disbursed across 40 to 45 villages. The rest will also be distributed soon. As far as farmers with a few kanals of landholdings are concerned, we can’t distribute seeds below 40 kg. Two or three farmers can jointly apply for seeds if they have small land, and we can give the seeds to them. There are no anomalies in seed disbursal and all deserving farmers are getting seeds.”

***Most Jalandhar farmers get seeds, process underway

Kuldeep Singh, a farmer based in Janian Chahal village, here, said: “The Agriculture Department has disbursed the seeds among the farmers. While we are yet to receive the compensation for our land, the government has been relatively prompt with the seed disbursal. Farmers of the Mandala Channa, along with many other adjoining villages, where the land is still wet and wheat crop can’t be sown are primarily affected during the wheat-sowing season.”

District Agriculture Officer, Jalandhar,  Nazar Singh said:“A total of 5,882 farmers have received 7,101 quintals of seeds. The rest will also be disbursed soon. The wheat-sowing time is till November 30 and the process will be completed before that.”