ITANAGAR, April 3 � Farmers of Dado, a tiny hamlet in Arunachal Pradesh, famous for its organic farm produce, are struggling to make ends meet as they claim a major chunk of agricultural goods has been rotting due to lack of government support and market linkages.
�A portion of our produce is supplied to Itanagar and local markets but a major chunk is left for want of buyers,� says village headman Dado Taro. The local markets are not enough to sell organic products which are being cultivated without any government support and technical knowhow, he added.
Perched atop a hillock overlooking the mighty Kurung river, Dado village in newly-created Kra Daadi district has a population of hardly 400, majority of whom are farmers. These farmers depend on the sale of their agricultural goods � vegetables, fruits and spices � to earn their living. They cultivate oranges, large cardamoms, papayas and tomatoes besides coffee to a small extent.
Taro said the monthly income of each family in the village is only around Rs 5,000-Rs 6,000.
�If the State Government introduces some income generating schemes in agriculture and horticulture sector for the village, the economic condition of the people will improve and the people can earn about Rs 3 to Rs 4 lakh annually through agriculture activities,� he said.
45-year-old Dado Rajendra, who cultivates large cardamoms, oranges, pineapples and papayas in his 10 hectares of farm land, blamed the government for not extending logistics to farmers. �Time and again we have been asking the Agriculture and Horticulture departments to provide us technical knowledge besides medicine and fencing materials, but in vain,� he said, adding there were only six government employees in the village.
Each farmer in the village produces on an average 10 quintals of oranges and other agricultural produce annually. �We sell our produce at the district headquarters and a small portion is sent to the State capital through middleman who buy them at meagre rates,� Rajendra said.
Water scarcity is another problem that the farmers of the village face. �We have appealed to the department concerned to provide us with water supply but nothing has been done in this regard,� Dado Tahar, another villager, said.
Sanjoy, who has been cultivating large cardamoms, oranges and king chillies, said the State Government should provide infrastructure like fencing besides seeds, fertilisers and technical inputs to the farmers. �Considering the district�s agro-climatic condition, tea plantation can be a money spinner for the farmers. If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime,� he said.
Assuring farmers of facilitating with support like market chain links and other logistics, State PHE Minister Takam Pario, who represents the district, said the scenario will change in the next five years. �The State Government in the last five years has taken vigorous initiatives to popularise agri and horti sectors in the district,� he added.
Former Lok Sabha MP Takam Sanjoy, who hails from the district, said with the State Government attaching priority on agricultural and horticulture sectors, the situation is expected to improve not only for the village but for the entire district. � PTI
