Delay in receiving seedlings has Corjuem farmers worried

the goan I networkrMAPUSArrThe farmers who were promised transplantation machines in the first week of July received it just two days ago. rAnd now, just when the machines arrived, the department of agriculture ran short of rice seedlings putting unnecessary pressure on the farmers. With rains playing truant, every single day is crucial for the paddy cultivation in the season. “We put so much money on mechanized farming on the advice of the directorate of agriculture. The delay in first sending the machines and the shortage of seedlings has created a scare among us,” said Sakaram Nagvenkar, a farmer from Corjuem. rFor the first time the agriculture department had taken the initiative to train farmers in mechanized farming and decided to introduce transplantation machines among a select group of farmers. rThe respective Zonal Agriculture Officers were given charge to select certain number of farmers and to convince them on the use of transplantation machines. r“Initially, we were told the machines would arrive in our area on July 6 but it came only on July 12. And when machines finally came it was discovered the department had no seedlings. We are concerned about our future. We cannot just wait…” said Hanumant Azgoankar, another farmer from the area. rAlso the seedlings received from the department were found to be of low quality, the farmers said. “On the instruction of the department I had convinced a group of farmers to go for transplantation machines. These farmers come to my door and abuse me. It’s such a desperate situation that I feel like committing suicide,” said Nagvenkar. rTrying to allay fears of the farmers, the Director of Agriculture, Ulhas Kakode said that the issue has been resolved and the seedlings were already dispatched. r“Work has already started in Corjuem. There was an issue where the machines reached first at the site and the seedlings came a little late,” Kakode said.