PARADIP: Pitobas Swain, a farmer from Deobhang village in Jagatsinghpur block is all at sea. Swain is staring at hefty financial loss after his venture in lemon plantation ended in failure. Not only Swain, but several others who planted lemon saplings supplied by the Horticulture Department in 2008, expecting a good yield have been lurched into uncertainty with the plantation yielding inferior quality lemons not fit for sale.Swain and his ilk took to lemon plantation, eyeing greater profit. Money to the tune of lakhs had been invested since 2008. Now that the plantation has borne fruit after three years of toil, the farmers are dismayed at the quality of the produce. “Each lemon is sold for ` 2 in the market. But the variant produced has no takers. People would not even take them free,” laments Swain.Swain started with this particular variant of lemon in September 2008, after the Horticulture Department officials convinced him of a greater yield. He took 200 saplings to be planted across an acre of land, as advised by the officials. The department had also promised him a lucrative package of ` 50,000 for upkeep of the plantation, apart from technical support. Three years into the plantation, Swain complains of receiving a meagre ` 5,400 instead of the ` 50,000. Meanwhile, Swain has already procured loans amounting to around a lakh to pay for fertiliser, labour charges and irrigation water. “The hope of earning a livelihood by selling lemons in the local market has been dashed,” rued Swain.Similar fate awaits Debendra Singh of Basantpur village under Biridi block. Demanding a probe into the issue, he complains of hefty loss in lemon cultivation, because of the alleged supply of fake seeds by the Horticulture Department. Another farmer from Sanra under Tirtol block said a fake seed supplying racket is active in the region.The situation has been aggravated by the absence of a horticulturist at Jagatsinghpur. Neither a horticulturist nor officials come forward with technical support or advice on how to survive such a crisis, the farmers complained. Despite the farmers, led by Swain, seeking intervention of the Collector, the Agriculture Minister, the Director of Horticulture and higher authorities, no action has been taken yet.However, horticulturist Ramesh Chandra Maharana from Tirtol rubbished claims of fake lemon seeds supply. “The change in the final product can be due to genetic problems,” he said.
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